


Help Me, Hide Me

by insominia



Series: His Heaven, His Earth [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Sam Winchester, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon, Canon-Typical Violence, Claiming, Domestic Fluff, Happy Ending, Knotting, Light Angst, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Omega Castiel/Alpha Dean Winchester, Rejection, Scenting, True Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:46:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 28,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24336865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insominia/pseuds/insominia
Summary: As far as Dean Winchester knows angels don’t have genders, secondary or otherwise, so it’s something of a shock when Castiel goes into heat. As the last of the omegas from heaven, the alpha angels decide that his rightful place is with his people, whether he wants to be there or not.Somehow that is less shocking than the revelation that Castiel appears to be Dean’s true mate.Castiel who raised him from perdition.Castiel who always stands too close.Castiel who is practically Dean’s mate already.There is only one thing Dean can do…He runs.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: His Heaven, His Earth [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756978
Comments: 58
Kudos: 256
Collections: Destiel Omegaverse Big Bang





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *dramatic fanfare*
> 
> It's here! The Destiel Omegaverse Bang! Wheeeee!
> 
> Huge shout out to the mods who ran such a wonderful bang! And massive thanks to my betas Banshee and Laurao who put a lot of work into bashing out the kinks. Or bashing in the kinks. However you wanna look at it. Seriously they're awesome! And MaggieMaybe who held my hand through the home stretch!
> 
> But also shout out to ncdover my AMAZING artist who has worked with me despite some truly mad times. She brought the characters to life and I really hope we can work together again so please show her some love! You can find the art post [here](https://ncdover1285.tumblr.com/post/619078407843725312/art-for-help-me-hide-me-by-insominia-for-the)
> 
> And be sure to check out the other offerings for this bang coz it's been a blast! :D

* * *

For all of Dean and Castiel’s ‘profound bond', it was Sam who called Cas out when Dean hadn’t noticed anything amiss at all. They were at breakfast, sitting at the table in the kitchen together chowing down on the pancakes Dean had made and Cas seemed to be doing little more than returning the mugs that had piled up in the war room. Dean grunted something that might have been a ‘Mornin’ Cas,’ if it could have been discerned around the mouthful of syrup and bacon he was currently working through. Sam, on the other hand, watched him for a moment before he called out, almost innocently, “Hey, Cas, you going somewhere?”

Cas had been at the step just about to head back out. Dean tried to swallow his mouthful so he could tease his brother about letting the guy leave the room without having to justify it. But when he looked up he saw that Cas had frozen, staring at Sam wide-eyed and horrified as though he’d been caught doing something shocking even by Winchester terms.

“I...I don’t know what you mean,” Cas said, trying and failing to sound casual.

Sam didn’t look up from his plate. “Well, I saw you slip some protein bars in your pocket. Some other stuff has gone missing too. Scent blockers, the hex bags, some of the books on warding...”

Dean frowned, casting his mind back...he had misplaced some of the scent blockers recently, but he hadn’t noticed the missing books. That was Sam’s domain though, if Sam said they were missing, they were.

“You hit your head or something?” Dean asked his brother, “The hell would Cas be doing with all that stuff? He doesn’t eat protein bars and he doesn’t need scent blockers seeing as he’s got no scent...” Cas winced at that and Dean knew instantly that Sam had been onto something. Something that Dean had obviously missed. The next forkful of bacon and pancake hesitated in mid-air between Dean’s mouth and his plate. “Cas?” he sighed, “What’s going on?”

"I um...I have something...that uh..." Cas stuttered, nibbling at his bottom lip. Dean wished he wouldn't do that at the best of times, but at this point it was less distracting and more worrying. Cas rarely stuttered. Dean had seen several shades of Castiel: Angel of the Lord in his time and this was well into ‘freaking out’ territory. Reflexively, Sam and Dean lowered their cutlery, the ting of metal on ceramic perfectly coordinated as they both turned their full attention to the angel, who looked as though a moment longer under their gaze would have him sweating from stress.

"You leaving us, Cas?" Dean asked, unable to keep his voice from sounding as low as it did. It wasn't a new story, but he'd thought they were past this tendency of Cas’ to disappear without notice and for weeks at a time. He tried to focus on Cas’ face so he didn’t have to focus on the way his stomach felt as though he’d just been drop kicked.

Cas’ mouth opened and closed soundlessly, before his eyes dropped to the floor and he mumbled, "I have a problem and I need to go away for a while,” he shuffled awkwardly on the spot, “a long while."

Dean’s throat felt tight, his eyes burning. It was his own fault, he thought viciously, he shouldn’t have gotten used to having Cas around. Of course, he was going to disappear. What did he have to stay for? “Okay,” he rasped, aware that both Cas and Sam were looking at him in surprise, “If you’re going, go.” He growled.

“Dean-” Cas started, but Dean didn’t want to hear it.

“ _Just go, Cas!_ ” he snapped, turning his attention back to his breakfast so he didn’t have to actually see Cas walk away. He’d been enjoying the food so much, but now it felt heavy in his stomach. He wasn’t hungry anymore.

From the doorway, Cas sighed, heavily, as though the weight of the words he spoke were forcing the air out of his lungs; "It's nothing, really, but I have reason to believe that what few angels remain will shortly descend in an attempt to find me and if they do, they will force me back into Heaven and keep me as a prisoner there for eternity. It seems they’ve realised that as an omega they could mate me with an alpha to potentially repopulate heaven."

Neither Sam nor Dean spoke. They barely even moved. Even the natural rise and fall of their chests seemed to have paused. Eventually, Sam blinked a few times, "Say that again?"

So Cas did, repeating the words and the intonations in an exact replica of what he'd just said. There was silence so absolute sound itself might have ceased to exist. Sam and Dean exchanged a look, and after several moments of confusion as the angel's words settled into their minds, Dean turned to him and said, "Cas, buddy, that doesn't sound like nothing."

Cas couldn't meet their eyes, his gaze firmly fixed on a floor stain. Was that grease? Probably grease. Probably Dean’s doing actually.

"I suppose not," he mumbled.

"Cas," Sam said, his voice laced with infinite patience, far softer than Dean could ever manage, "come sit down, tell us what's going on."

"No, I've said too much already, it's dangerous and I just-"

" _Sit down, Cas!_ " Dean barked, and with only the slightest hesitation Cas slipped into the chair next to him, still unable to meet either of their eyes. With impressive restraint, Dean swivelled in his chair so he was looking at Cas. When he spoke, his voice was painfully controlled, drawn so tight he sounded like he might snap at a moment’s notice. "What's going on?"

So Cas told them.

And then, when they didn't believe him, he told them again.

And when they didn't understand he told them a third time.

By that point, they were at least following the issue, but the initial shock had not subsided. Sam's mouth had fallen open and he had yet to close it. Dean was staring into nothing, holding himself so rigidly it seemed that every part of his body had been given over to processing this latest revelation. For his part, Cas focused entirely on his hands wringing in his lap. Now that he’d said it out loud, he probably realised it wasn’t quite in the realm of ‘nothing’.

Silence stretched out between the three of them, during which they did little more than exchange glances. Cas looked worried, Sam just looked confused, occasionally opening his mouth only to close it again a moment later, unable to quite voice what was going on in his mind.

Dean didn’t know how he felt. Numb? As though Cas had just kicked the chair from under him and the fall had winded him? Cas was an omega. That was news. The phrase stuck in his head, repeating over and over.

‘ _...as an omega they could mate me with an alpha...’_

As an alpha, Dean should probably be reacting to the news that the angel he definitely wasn’t in love with and hadn’t been in love for a long, long time, was an omega. But, right now, he was stuck on the omission itself.

“I uh...I didn’t know angels had secondary genders,” Sam said eventually.

It looked like Cas might reply, but Dean interrupted them. He hadn’t meant to, but he couldn’t stop it. He started laughing, not just that but he doubled-over, gut-wrenching hysterics escaping him as he clung onto the edge of the table to steady himself. Cas turns everything they know about him on his head and Sam’s first thought was the nerdy shit. Of course it was.

“ _That’s_ your take-away from this?” he managed to choke out when he could breathe again. “I didn’t know angels had secondary genders? You’re not bothered by...” he broke off, _Cas is an omega – they want to mate Cas to an alpha_ – he couldn’t say it, instead he waved his hand vaguely at Cas, “all of this?”

“Of course I’m bothered, Dean, I was just saying...” Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as though it could calm him before he turned back to Cas. “So, Cas, how can we help?”

Cas rolled his eyes, only a little but it was still enough to piss Dean off even more than he already seemed to be. “You can’t. I’ll be fine, I’m sure you’ll understand why I won’t be able to maintain contact for some time.”

“Not happening, Cas,” Dean huffed, “I’m coming with you.”

“Dean, you can’t-”

Dean didn’t want to hear it. “Cards on the table, Cas. You tell us that actually despite everything we thought angels _do_ have secondary genders. Then you tell us that it hasn’t mattered for centuries but it sure as hell matters now that there’s only six angels left in heaven and they wanna bring up their numbers. So seeing as you’re the last omega out of them because _that’s apparently a thing now_ , you’ve heard on the celestial grapevine that the alphas are going to descend and take you back to heaven where you’ll be breeder number one. But you’re going to go on the run before that happens and hide from them. On your own. That about right?” Cas nodded a little, unable to quite find the words to respond. “Yeah, it’s not happening, I’m coming with you. We’re not leaving you to get hunted down by the God squad, okay?”

“There’s nothing about this in the lore so I’m not sure how much help we’ll find in the library,” Sam muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He turned to look at Cas, “So when an angel takes a vessel they suppress their secondary gender, which is why you have no scent and can’t scent anyone else...” Even though Sam was talking directly to Cas, it was clear that he was trying to make sense of it himself. He didn’t need an answer, not that Cas looked like he was going to give him one. “But you think that they can force you to...I dunno... _present?_ And track you that way...so you’re hoping to hide, stop suppressing it and they won’t be able to track you...” he glanced back at Dean though Dean wasn’t sure why; he had nothing to offer. “There’s gotta be something in all this, right? I mean, if not on angels specifically then something...” he asked, waving a hand in the vague direction of the bunker’s library.

“Get on it,” Dean said, unwilling to lose time over this. Sam would know where to look, right now they just needed to get Cas somewhere safe. He wasn’t sure where could be safer than the bunker but if Cas wasn’t convinced that was enough for Dean. “C’mon Cas, let’s go, we’ll find somewhere to hide out.”

But as the two of them rose Cas snapped, “ _No_.” Unsurprisingly Sam turned in unison as Dean did. “Thank you,” he said, quietly, “but I’ll be alright.”

“This isn’t a debate, Cas,” Dean snapped right back at him, “There’s no way we’re letting you go out there on your own. We can help, you know we can.”

This time Cas’ eye roll was dramatic enough to reach the shortlist for several Academy awards, “and when I ‘ _present_ ’?” he hissed, “Are you going to help me with that, too?”

Dean hadn’t been about to say anything, but his mouth clamped shut anyway. Sam fell silent too and they exchanged awkward glances. Maybe...Maybe he could just grab Cas and force him into the Impala? That would be preferable, infinitely preferable, to having this conversation.

It was Sam who replied, which shouldn’t have been a surprise. Dean sure as shit wasn’t going to say anything. He spoke softly, with far greater gentleness than the situation probably warranted...or maybe it was. “Cas. Have you ever experienced a heat in a vessel before?” The way Cas’ eyes widened for a moment before he looked away answered that question for them. “Okay, and your vessel, Jimmy. He was a beta. What kind of changes will happen when you manifest as an omega? Will your biology change or is it like your wings...something that exists in another dimension?”

Cas’ mouth opened and closed several times before he muttered, “I don’t know.”

“Right,” Sam breathed, softly. “Listen, if you were just a normal angel hiding from angels we’d want to help. If you were just a normal omega struggling with heat we’d want to help...No, _no_ , not like that,” he added quickly when Cas’ eyes went wide with shock. Dean hadn’t reacted, his brain had momentarily gone offline from the implications of what Sam said alone. “I just mean...I know we’re both alphas but you’re not the first omega we’ve been around at a time like this, okay? There are ways to help that don’t involve...” he flushed bright red and just waved his hand between them by way of explanation, “... _that_ . But what I’m saying is, we _want_ to help you. You’re our family so let us help you. We’re not gonna lose you, okay?”

Dean shifted awkwardly, uncomfortable in the face of such an open and sudden declaration of emotion. But then, it was probably a good thing Sam had said it. That and the other stuff. Dean’s approach of, ‘get in the damned car, Cas,’ might have worked but it wouldn’t have helped.

Cas stared at them for a long time, finding only sincerity in Sam’s face and...well...a scowl in Dean’s but it didn’t seem to matter for the moment. Eventually, Cas sighed, “Okay. You can help.”

Sam breathed the sigh of relief Dean felt, “Great, Cas. That’s great.”

“Alright, c’mon, get in the damned car, Cas,” Dean grunted and in a way it was reassuring that he should be so uncomfortable and annoyed. It was probably the only semblance of normality to be found in the whole situation.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean had only a nebulous impression of where he was going. He hadn’t so much as decided where would be a good place to hide Cas from the entirety of Heaven (which granted, didn’t mean as much as it once had) as he had pointed Baby in a direction and put his foot down. It hadn’t been lunchtime when they’d left the bunker and even though it was dark now Dean only had a vague sense that they had stopped a couple of times for gas and food. He couldn’t remember having eaten, but there were wrappers on the dash and they certainly hadn’t come from Cas. Every now and then Dean would glance over and Cas would be beside him, watching the road roll out before them. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had the unreasonable idea that if he looked at Cas enough then somehow the confused mess that he’d dumped on them all would start making sense. It didn’t, of course, and neither of them had said a word since they’d left the bunker hours ago.

Of course, it wasn’t the bizarre situation that had moved Dean to silence. It was the bitter appreciation that here was something else that drove a wedge between himself and Cas. Not that Cas had intended it to be a barrier, but it had to come at a time when Dean had started to think that maybe they’d be okay,  _ maybe _ things were settling down and they were getting back to having a normal life or at least as normal a life as one could have when one was a hunter. A life without an apocalypse looming on every horizon, a life where Cas didn’t have to disappear every two minutes to deal with some fallout or other from Heaven, a life where maybe he’d stick around. Instead, he’d gotten a painful reminder that Cas was not of this world. He was something else, something that could only ever come down to Dean’s level on occasion. He was far beyond anything Dean could hope to be. Cas called them friends... family... but what did that mean to a being born in starlight at the edge of creation?

Sometimes, in his more optimistic moments, usually after several rounds of anything but whiskey (whiskey made him maudlin), Dean had allowed himself to think of what life would be like if Cas stayed. If he left the cares of Heaven behind and stayed with them. _R_ _ eally stayed _ . None of this disappearing every time something came up that he didn’t want to bother the Winchesters with. If he was feeling really optimistic (usually by that point he wouldn’t be able to feel his legs properly and the room would be spinning a little) he might think what it would be like to have Cas all to himself, in the ways that he often thought about having Cas when Sam wasn’t around to arch an eyebrow. But if he ever needed reminding that Cas was not meant for him, or any of the tiny beings on the planet he could leave at any time, there was always something ready to present itself. In this case, literally  _ present _ . Who knew angels had secondary genders? Who knew Cas was an omega? Well...Cas had. And had determined not to share that information with Dean. Something else Dean didn’t know about the person he considered at the very least his best friend...

“So you’re an omega?” Dean blurted out, immediately regretting it. The comfortable silence that had enveloped them since they’d left the bunker had been shattered, and in its ruins, there was no way to follow up without it sounding like an accusation. “You never said.”

“It wasn’t important,” Cas replied and Dean could hear the shrug in his tone. “Angels haven’t had to fall back on such distinctions for millennia.”

“Hm,” the noise came from somewhere in the back of Dean’s throat and he suddenly found he had a hundred questions, but he couldn’t voice a single one.

“It bothers you,” Cas said, at length and it wasn’t a question.

“What?” Dean scoffed, “No. It doesn’t…it doesn’t bother me, Cas.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could sense Cas looking at him. He could see the edge of blue caught in the dim light of passing streetlights so he deliberately kept his eyes on the road. “It’s just-” he threw his hands up a little, a soft thunk where they came back against the steering wheel, “I dunno. I- I kinda thought I knew everything about you.” Beside him, Cas scoffed, softly, but it wasn’t patronising. “Yeah, alright, well as much as I could anyway. I’m just surprised. I’ll get over it.”

“Dean,” Cas said, gently, in the tone Dean had come to hate because it usually meant Cas was going to talk about things that Dean was never comfortable responding to. “You know everything that matters. Angels haven’t had cause to even consider whether they are alpha or omega since your ancestors were cast out of Eden and it was hardly important then. For a while, it defined our social hierarchy. Alphas generally assumed command but not always. Sometimes I think God only bothered with it all as a trial run before he created you.”

“So what, angels were the guinea pigs for what he wanted in humanity?”

Cas gave a light chuckle, “While our true forms are sometimes likened to animals I doubt any angel would consider themselves a guinea pig, Dean.” Dean glanced up as Cas caught his eye and something within him, something that had been hardened against all this, whatever this was, softened a little. It was as reassuring as if Cas had reached over and taken his hand. “But, domesticated caviidae aside, from what I’ve seen of the world, angels were Chuck’s first venture into servitude. He made us with the sole purpose of worshipping Him, but that wasn’t enough. So He made you and gave you free will, presumably because He tired of the ingrained subservience.” Returning his eyes to the road, Cas sighed, thoughtfully, “I’ve often wondered why He punished Lucifer for expressing the values He would hold most dear in humans. Not that He has held any of us in particularly high esteem since before Rome fell...”

“But the alpha/omega thing, it doesn’t really mean anything in Heaven?” Dean asked trying to get the conversation back onto ground he could at least comprehend however much he would love to hear Cas muse on the nature of existence.

“If you’re asking how it compares...” Cas started, with the slightest of edge to his voice, as though he were on some level annoyed at his thoughts being interrupted. “As far as practical applications go, angels have not had ruts or heats for so long it has become second nature to repress that aspect of ourselves. It has served no purpose and has had so little place in our very long lives that it has taken this long for those in Heaven to realise that it could be of any use at all, especially in the matter of repopulating it. The last angel born to a mated pair was old when I was created.”

“Mate?” Dean snapped, suddenly, his mind screeching to a rather abrupt halt, “Angels mate?”

“Long ago, yes.”

“Oh.” Dean cleared his throat like it wasn’t a thing. Because it wasn’t a thing. “So...uh...” he coughed again, “So you got a mate out there?”

Cas sighed with unmistakable exasperation. “As I said, it hasn’t been a consideration for a long time.”

“But you have a mate somewhere?” He couldn’t help the distinct desperation that bled into his voice. Nor would Dean even admit it to himself that it mattered at all. But it  _ did _ matter, in fact, right now the idea that Cas had a true mate out there in Heaven and had done all this time was possibly the most important issue in the universe.

Dean could feel Cas looking at him. He could feel the tilt of the head and the way he turned over the question in his mind trying to figure out why Dean should have any interest at all in the matter. “No,” he said, eventually and Dean would deny to his dying day the relief that flooded through him. “In Heaven mates are companions, closer than any other could be. But, no,  _ I _ have never had a mate.”

A long, slow exhale left Dean’s lips and still, he could feel Cas looking at him. He let out a laugh, he couldn’t help it. The relief was palpable, he was giddy with it even if he didn’t want to admit why that should be the case. But then, Dean had spent most of the time he had known Cas in denial of one thing or another. Even before he had truly met him.

“ Dean? Are you alright?”

“Hm?” Dean looked up suddenly, though he immediately regretted looking at Cas so soon after learning he didn’t have a mate.

_ Cas didn’t have a mate. _

“Oh yeah, I’m fine. Might pull over though, get my four hours. If that’s okay?” he offered, even though he knew Cas would never deny him rest.

“Of course, it’s fine. I’m always happy to watch over you.”


	3. Chapter 3

Neither Dean nor Cas had put ‘shopping’ on their list of things to do before they disappeared completely. It made sense that at some point Dean would need to stock up on supplies before they reached the cabin he had finally decided they were heading for. When Sam asked, he’d insisted that he’d always intended to head for Bobby’s least used cabin. One in the middle of nowhere even by Bobby’s paranoid standards. As it happened, after Dean had gotten his four hours at a no-name motel, he’d checked a map and found they were actually on track for said safe house so he might as well carry on the rest of the way. The place would already be warded and it would likely have anything extra they needed for protection. It was well off the beaten track so they wouldn’t be disturbed by locals or neighbours which would be worth it in itself if Cas were just a normal omega about to enter a normal heat. If the worst happened and the angels did find them...well...better that than they found their way into the bunker.

But neither of them had expected to be browsing the pharmaceutical aisle while Dean pointed out things that Cas might need in what was easily the most embarrassing situation he’d ever found himself.

“I did some research, Dean, I have already appropriated sports drinks for added electrolytes and protein bars. Apparently, maintaining hydration is the most important element of a heat for human omegas.”

“Yeah and that’s great, but you’re gonna need...other stuff, Cas,” Dean sighed, comparing the packages of two different brands of heat pads trying to remember which one Charlie had preferred.

“What are they?”

Dean sighed throwing the more expensive of the two into the cart - after all, it wasn't as though it was his money. “Heat pads. They can help with cramps.”

Cas cocked his head regarding Dean for a moment, “Can I expect cramps?” 

Dean almost threw his hands up in exasperation, “I don’t know Cas, I’m winging this as much as you are. You don’t know what to expect, I sure as hell don’t know so I’m just going with what I _do_ know.” He threw in some cooling pads.

“Heat pads...and cooling pads?”

“In case your temperature needs bringing down,” Dean sighed, “You might not need any of them, Cas, okay, I don’t-” he broke off as a woman passed them, looking at them curiously. Dean gave her a winning smile and then lowered his voice, “I don’t know, okay.”

He was already turning away when he felt Cas’ hand on his arm pulling him back, gently. “Forgive me,” he said quietly and Dean regretted how close they were standing. Cas sighed, “I don’t mean to be difficult. I’m grateful for your help.”

It wasn’t that Dean didn’t appreciate the sentiment. He really did but he couldn’t help but grimace as he pulled away and muttered, “Yeah, hold that thought, ‘coz you’re about to get real uncomfortable, real fast.” He used Cas’ grip to steer him towards the very end of the aisle where the fake knots were placed high out of the view and reach of children.

“A fake knot?” Cas asked, again with the head tilt, “I don’t understand.”

Dean closed his eyes and took a few breaths to steady himself. If he were the praying type he might ask for deliverance but instead he tried to keep his voice as even as possible, determinedly not thinking about the man beside him taking a fake knot. “You know how heats work on earth, right?” he asked, with as much nonchalance as he could possibly put into his tone. “They can get pretty intense...fake knots...” he swallowed and looked away when Cas tracked the motion in his throat, “They can help with...y’know...”

“Stimulation.”

It was the way Cas said it. Sagely yet clearly with no concept of what he was actually saying that had Dean choking on little more than the air he was struggling to breathe. “Yeah, look, just pick one.”

Cas took a hesitant step forward and glanced over the closest offerings before turning to Dean with a frown. “Which one do I choose?”

“ _Jesus, Cas,_ ” Dean breathed, the flush that he’d managed to hold at bay flooded his cheeks though he immediately felt guilty when he saw Cas drop his gaze nervously to the floor. This was embarrassing for him too, Dean told himself firmly, he didn’t need Dean being an ass about it. “Okay,” Dean said trying to keep his voice steady. “You ever uh...you know...use one before?”

Cas raised an eyebrow, “I’ve never had cause to.”

“’Course,” Dean mumbled then with far more resolution than he expected he grabbed a couple that came with flashy if not descriptive stickers.

_‘Perfect for first heats’_

_‘9/10 Omegas recommend’_

_‘Winner “Best Aid” - Omega Choice Magazine’_

The woman at the checkout didn’t bat an eyelid at their purchases even though Dean was fairly sure his face was so red it could set off every fire alarm on the block. Cas was similarly unfazed though he eyed the fake knots with something that was probably confusion. At least, Dean was happy to think it was confusion. He was not going to get drawn into what Cas might possibly be thinking about while staring at glorified sex toys, not in a public place at least.

They loaded Baby up with everything they’d bought, but Dean took a moment to compose himself before he started the engine.

“Thank you, Dean,” Cas said, suddenly.

“For what?” asked Dean, after he failed to elaborate further.

Cas shrugged an entirely human gesture and waved vaguely towards the trunk, “For all of this. I have to admit that there are several contingencies I had not prepared for when I considered this venture.”

Baby’s engine roared to life, louder than Dean had intended, but he was determined to have this conversation while driving so he wouldn’t have to give Cas his full attention. Not because he didn’t want to give Cas his full attention, he just didn’t think he’d survive the conversation if he did.

“It’s all quite different in Heaven,” he continued as though he were musing on nothing more consequential than the weather. “When angels did such things, the emphasis was always on the bond between a mated pair more than physical release, even when a bond was formed for breeding purposes. I suppose if I am to experience a heat in this form it would make sense to be prepared for the sexual elements that come with it.”

Dean’s throat had surely never been so dry. He was struck by a memory of a nervous angel sitting in a strip club while Dean encouraged him to leave with the dancer. That same nervous angel who had needed to imbibe several pints of liquor just to cope with his surroundings was now sitting beside him casually discussing the possibility of needing to use a fake knot in the next few days.

“So uh,” he cleared his throat not entirely sure as to what he’d been intending to say. “So angels didn’t go around out of their gourd on pheromones begging for a knot…” Dean trailed off because imagining Cas - his skin flushed, his ragged breath coming in short gasps, pleading to be knotted - that was not an image he needed right now. He might revisit it later given how tight his jeans had suddenly become but not right now.

Cas was silent for a time, so long in fact that Dean wondered if he might have offended him but when he chanced a look over he found that Cas was simply mulling over the question.

“It didn’t quite work that way,” he said eventually and there was a hint of a chuckle in his voice. “Given that our true forms exist beyond the physical plane, no - we’ve never gone around out of our gourds on pheromones begging for a knot.”

This time when Dean looked over he caught Cas’ eye and the mirth there. They both laughed aloud even though Dean was only vaguely aware of what it was he was laughing at. Somewhere in the back end of his memories, he could hear Zachariah saying, _“In Heaven I have six wings and four faces, one of which is a lion..._ ” and he was on the verge of asking Cas what his true form was like assuming he could comprehend it with his mortal mind, but they were interrupted by the familiar opening chords of Smoke on the Water.

Cas reached over into Dean’s pocket for the offending phone; Dean couldn’t remember when they had fallen into such casual touches, but he didn’t mind it. In fact, he kind of liked it.

“Sam,” Cas announced by way of introduction even though it could hardly have been anyone else. He accepted the call holding the phone out between them and putting the speaker on angled it towards Dean.

“What you got, Sam?”

Sam’s answering sigh was almost answer enough. “Not much,” he admitted. “I’ve gone through everything here and there is absolutely nothing on omega or alpha angels.”

Cas didn’t seem in the least bit surprised by the news. “That makes sense. Angels stopped caring about such distinctions long before the humans even conceived the written word.”

“Right, but we’ve been looking into some of the more obscure ways that angels can use for tracking...”

“We?” Dean interrupted frowning when Sam hesitated.

There was a slight shift over the silence and Rowena’s lilting voice rang out over the line, “Hello boys.”

“Rowena,” Dean rolled his eyes.

“Less of that please, I’m here to help,” she said sweetly, which naturally Dean didn’t believe in the slightest but she didn’t give him the chance to protest. “Sam’s brought me up to speed on your... _issue_ ,” she said delicately, “I’ve been thinking about how angels repress, amongst other things, their scent when they take a human vessel.”

“Yes?” Cas asked, gruffly.

“Well, it occurs to me that if your scent is something that belongs to your true form rather than your vessel then perhaps Heaven could track it somehow?”

Exchanging a look Dean and Cas were quiet for a moment. So quiet that Rowena added with a sigh, “I don’t know for certain, but then given how little we know about this whole business it was just a thought-”

“Rowena,” Cas interrupted but his voice was not harsh. “Rowena, I think that’s an excellent observation.”

They could practically _hear_ her preening under the praise and Dean caught Cas’ soft smile out of the corner of his eye. “Well, in that regard I can help at least. Witches have been helping omegas with their heats since the dawn of time. I’ll have Samuel send you the list of ingredients you’ll need, but there shouldn’t be anything too complicated.”

“Beyond that, we’ve just found some old warding sigils the Men of Letters used to use way back when. They might not help all that much, but...”

“...We’ll take what we can get,” Dean sighed. “Alright, thanks.” Even though he couldn’t see his brother he recognised the loaded silence and knew that if he’d been there Sam would be avoiding his eye. “What?”

“It’s just that-”

“What?” Dean asked again when Sam trailed off, nervously.

“Oh grow up,” Rowena snapped and there came the distinct sound of somebody (definitely Sam) receiving a sharp jab, probably on the arm. “Castiel, dear,” she said far kinder this time, “I’ve also drawn up a list of things that will help you, personally.”

“Oh...” Cas stumbled for a moment unsure quite how to react.

“You boys don’t talk about anything plainly do you?” Rowena observed with a sigh, “Anyway, I wasn’t sure exactly what could help but I’ll have Samuel send over all my recipes for particularly bad heats. It’s not witchcraft but it’ll feel like it when you’re three days into heat and this soup is the only thing you can hold down,” she said, with the long-suffering tone of experience.

“I...I don’t...Thank you,” Cas managed to say.

“You’re welcome,” Rowena trilled before the line went dead.

Cas didn’t slip the phone back into Dean’s pocket, leaving it between them on the seat, but he also didn’t say anything.

“You okay there, buddy?” asked Dean after he’d been quiet for longer than normal.

When Cas spoke it was quiet with the hint of a tremor in his voice. “I’m not looking forward to this, Dean.”

Dean opened his mouth to reply a few times but couldn’t quite figure out what to say. Instead, he took one hand off the wheel and reached over to touch Cas’ shoulder in what he hoped was a gesture of reassurance. “I know. But we’re going to get you through this, yeah?”

Cas’ hand reached up to cover Dean’s and for a moment they both seemed to revel in the warmth of the other’s touch. “Of course, Dean.”


	4. Chapter 4

In a strange reversal of fate, it was Cas who took Dean’s phone and applied the warding runes Sam had sent them to the walls of the cabin. Dean, on the other hand, took to preparing the bedroom for Cas’ imminent heat when it soon became clear that Cas had as little idea on how he would prepare for such a thing as he had when it came to anything about the entire situation. Not that Dean knew much more but he had been around omegas during their heats and he was glad that he’d paid attention even if he’d never expected the knowledge to serve him like this.

He stripped the bed and washed the sheets in the special scentless powder they’d picked up so there wouldn’t be any foreign smells around Cas, assuming that would be a problem. While they tumbled in the machine Dean covered the mattress in a protector and when Cas asked what its purpose was he insisted it would keep his sweat from soaking into the mattress. Cas didn’t call him out on the obvious lie but it turned out educating the angel on slick production was Dean’s limit for the day. Assuming Cas would...yeah...not a safe avenue of thought. He made sure there were energy drinks and the protein bars at hand, assuming Cas would need such things and he stocked the bedside cabinet with the heat pads, cooling pads and everything else they’d picked up...assuming Cas would need any of that as well.

Dean scratched at the back of his neck, nervously. This was ridiculous but it sure beat the alternative of Cas trying to figure it all out by himself. Somehow he had even less of an idea of what it meant to be an omega than Dean did.

Cas checked and double-checked the final details of the sigil he had painted on the front door. An old Croatian symbol that according to Sam would allegedly hide them from 'the messengers of the Gods'. Satisfied, he stepped back and surveyed his work - almost every wall had been adorned with one rune or another. He returned the spray paint can to Dean’s duffle and looked over at the bizarre mixture of ingredients Dean was emptying into a mortar.

“It’ll scent-proof the place,” Dean said, by way of explanation, “At least, that’s what Rowena hopes it will do...” He sighed, grabbing the nearby pestle and going at the mortar with gusto. It was frustrating, to say the least, to deal in such nebulous ‘maybes’. Gesturing to his phone Dean added, “If there’s something on there you wanna try, be my guest.”

Cas scrolled through the messages for a moment before he joined Dean at the table checking what ingredients Bobby had stashed there once upon a time, and started making up a brew for a tea Rowena claimed would alleviate the worst of the heat symptoms. Assuming he had any.

“Hm,” Cas gave a thoughtful sigh, but then he caught Dean’s eye, flushed a little and returned his gaze to his work, clearly regretting it.

“What?” Dean sighed, with greater weariness than he really should have felt.

“It’s nothing.”

“ _ Cas _ .”

“I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

The laugh that escaped Dean’s lips was far from forced, “Oh believe me Cas, I have a feeling by the end of the week there ain’t all that much that’ll make me uncomfortable...I’ve just stashed fake knots in your bedroom. I think we’ve crossed that line.”

Cas looked at him for a moment before he too started laughing, “The life of a hunter,” he smirked.

“Yeah...just when you think it can’t get weirder. Anyway, what’s up?”

Cas measured the weight of dried lavender with his hand alone and casually said, “It just occurred to me, if this goes the way of a human heat, then I might be able to smell you.”

The pestle in Dean’s hand clattered against the mortar as he stumbled over a response.

“I didn’t mean  _ scent _ you, Dean,” Cas added with a fairly dramatic eye roll. “I just mean, in general.” The thought didn’t seem to reassure Dean in the slightest so he carried on. “Even though you and Sam wear blockers during hunts I am aware of how much import is placed on scents. I was just thinking how it will be interesting to experience that aspect of existence.”

Beside him Dean was still struggling to get his thoughts in order. The sudden mental image of Cas scenting him had thrown him, to say the least, but now he was caught up in Cas’ opinion of his scent. What if he hated it? What if he loved it? What if they were compatible? What would they smell like together? He was jerked out of the spiral by Cas’ hand on his arm.

“Dean?”

“Huh? Oh,” he shook his head as though that would be enough to cast aside the onslaught of mental images. “Sorry, got distracted, what were you saying?”

But Cas was regarding him soberly, his eyes filled with concern. “I made you uncomfortable, again,” he sighed but before Dean could deny it he continued, “I’m sorry, Dean. It didn’t occur to me that the situation would be uncomfortable for you too, as an alpha,” he added when he realised Dean had clearly failed to comprehend what he was saying.

“Oh hey, Cas, don’t worry about that. I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself,” Dean grinned with a bravado he didn’t quite feel. Though his face flushed when he realised what he’d said, “Wait...no I didn’t mean...not like that-” But Cas was chuckling softly so he gave up on trying to explain it and just laughed with his friend. “This is insane,” he sighed.

Cas could only nod in agreement.

They checked, double-checked and triple-checked the wardings. After they’d done that they checked them again. And then once more for good measure. The hex bags were all in place, the warding secure, the various tinctures and brews Rowena had suggested lined the kitchen counter ready for use. That was the angelic side of things dealt with. Dean had several recipes on standby, food that had helped Charlie through her heats but given that they didn’t know if Cas would require food yet or whether he’d be able to stand the myriad of smells that would inevitably flood the small cabin he hadn’t started on any of them. All the regular supplies were at hand. All the... _ other _ ...supplies were ready too.

“So...” Dean started, awkwardly, “What...what happens now?”

Cas looked as uncertain as Dean did. “I...I suppose it’s just a case of manifesting my secondary gender in this realm, in the same way I can summon my wings...”

“Okay? Go for it,” Dean made a gesture with his hand to suggest he could carry on, “Unless...unless you want me to clear out, give you some privacy?”

Cas cocked his head and raised an eyebrow, “I don’t mind? Unless you do in which case I’m sure I’ll be alright.”

“I don’t mind,” replied Dean, quickly. Too quickly in hindsight but he recognised it was just nerves on his part. But then, Cas seemed nervous too. Dean forced himself to take a breath. “It’s gonna be okay, Cas,” he said, reassuringly, “Whatever happens we’re going to get through this.”

They exchanged a soft smile and Cas inhaled deeply, settling himself on the edge of the bed Dean had prepared for him. He closed his eyes and seemed to do nothing more than sit and breathe. Then he straightened suddenly, and the air seemed to crackle around them with a familiar charge. When Cas opened his eyes Dean saw the momentary flash of grace there before it subsided - and there was silence.

Nothing.

Dean waited a moment, waiting for something to happen, something to change but nothing did. He was on the verge of asking if something had gone wrong when he caught it. The faintest breath of a scent but one unlike anything he’d experienced before. It was as fresh as the first breath after a thunderstorm, as clear as light itself. It did not smell of anything, but it was _everything_. Dean inhaled deeply, the breath pleasantly cool as though he had stepped out onto the first snow of winter. Already he knew, he could feel it pounding somewhere under his skin but right now he was too distracted by the scent to acknowledge it even as his blood roared and his alpha tore desperately at his hindbrain, demanding to be let loose.

On the bed Cas was looking at Dean curiously, his nostrils flaring as he scented the air for the first time. Slowly, far too slowly, his eyes came to rest on Dean and he choked out the word that Dean already knew but had never thought to hear.

“ _ Mate _ ?”

And Dean Winchester did what he’d always imagined he’d do in the face of meeting his true mate even though never in his wildest imaginings had he ever thought it might be the angel before him.

He ran.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been at least an hour before Dean pulled over onto a nondescript side road surrounded by trees. He wasn’t sure where he was and the drive had done little to calm him. His hands trembled against the wheel, his foot was still pressed firmly on the gas pedal even though he’d turned the engine off and he wasn’t going anywhere. There was a roaring in his ears that he couldn’t place. It could have been his inner alpha screaming at him for leaving their mate like that, it might have been the shock of it all, it might just have just been the speed with which he’d so much distance between himself and Cas.

_ Cas. _

His true mate.

He bowed his head forcing himself to take deep breaths, trying to stave off the panic that had risen within him and point-blank refused to abate. He’d found his true mate. Cas was his true mate. How was that even- no. _S_ _ top.  _ D on’t spiral just yet. Dean dropped his head into his hands, letting out a frustrated shout that sounded pained even to his own ears.

He was never meant to have a true mate. What could he have ever offered a mate? What could he offer Cas?  _ Cas _ ?

This was never meant to happen. None of this was meant to happen.

_ Cas _ ?!

How the hell would that even work?

He had to calm down. He could practically feel his heart pounding its way to a coronary.

He needed to  _ calm down _ .

“Calm down!” he shouted at himself only a little surprised when it actually seemed to help. It wasn’t much but it was something. With some difficulty, Dean managed to get his breathing under control, though his head swam with the effort. He was okay. He would be okay. He just needed to think this through.

Naturally, it was at that moment that his phone started ringing.

He ignored it.

Cas was his true mate.

The warmth was surprising. It was faint, easily masked by his feelings of panic but it was there. A warm glow somewhere deep in his chest spreading throughout his body now that he could contemplate the notion without panicking.

Cas was his true mate.

A smile broke across his lips before he could stop it and his emotions were in pieces as he let out a small chuckle. It swelled within him and soon he was laughing aloud, wiping back the tears that threatened to fall at the sudden rush of it all. What the hell was he supposed to do now? What the hell did this even mean to Cas? He felt a twinge of guilt that he had left Cas-  _ his mate  _ \- so suddenly, but he couldn’t have stuck around. He needed to clear his head.

His phone was still ringing.

He reached into his pocket almost dropping the phone. He hadn’t quite gotten the tremor under control. It was Sam and Dean gave a small, ‘hm.’ He’d expected it to be Cas.

“What is it, Sam?” he barked suddenly impatient with his brother. His hindbrain felt like it was going to explode but Dean had spent most of his life keeping his alpha under control. He wasn’t going to let it loose now.

“Dean,” Sam breathed, the relief evident in his voice, “Thank God, what happened, are you alright? Neither you or Cas were answering...”

“Oh yeah, sorry, everything’s fine. What’s up?”

Sam hesitated and even over the phone Dean could feel him exchanging a look with Rowena. “We were just checking in, how’s Cas? Has it started yet?”

Dean opened his mouth to speak but no reply came.

“Dean? What’s going on?”

“What, nothing, Cas is- Cas...he’s fine...I think.”

“You think?” Sam asked slicing the words from the air rather than speaking them.

“Cas is...” Dean took a deep breath. So this was happening. “Cas is my mate, Sam. My true mate,” he said with far greater softness than he'd intended. He wasn't all that surprised when the line went silent for so long he had to double-check that the call hadn’t dropped.

When a voice spoke again it was Rowena, her voice low and deliberately measured. “Dean, did you leave Castiel?”

He bristled at the implication even though that is exactly what he’d done. “Yeah, well sorry for freaking out. Until two days ago we didn’t even know Cas could be an omega, I’ve spent the day preparing Cas for a heat he doesn’t even understand so yeah, I ducked out for a minute.”

“Dean, you have to go back, right now,” she demanded. That she kept using his name was not lost on him.

“Well, obviously I’m going back. I just-”

“Now, Dean. You need to go back  _ right now _ . Get off your phone, turn around and go to him.”

Granted Dean didn’t know Rowena particularly well and he probably trusted her even less but her insistence was worrying. So much so that Dean didn’t react for a moment and he heard her sigh.

“Castiel is an omega, going into heat, who has just scented his alpha-” she said patiently and Dean felt a thrill rush through him at being referred to as his alpha, “an alpha who just rejected him.”

“I didn’t reject him!” Dean shouted down the phone immediately defensive. He heard Sam arguing the same, “I just needed some air or...”

“Will you two knotheads shut up and listen! Did you not do biology in school?” She snapped, all patience gone from her voice. “Unless I’ve gotten it all wrong, Dean. Instead of losing your mind and running for the hills as I imagine you did, you scent-bonded with him and then told our dear angel that you’d be right back, you just needed to think about it for a moment.” She took Dean’s silence as answer enough. “I didn’t think so. You need to get back to him _quickly_ or Heaven is going to be the least of your troubles.”

Dean didn’t so much hang up the phone as throw it onto the seat beside him assuming the universe would figure out his intent and cut the call for him. If Rowena or Sam were still talking their voices were lost over the screeching of the Impala’s tires as Dean swiftly turned her around and shot off back the way he came.

Maybe Cas would be alright. He wasn’t a typical omega, things like rejection and pining sickness...they probably didn’t affect him the same way, right? He’d be a bit annoyed that Dean had run out the way he had and that would be a totally normal thing to be. He’d have every right to be angry. But it wouldn’t be worse than that, Dean attempted to reassure himself, trying to coax Baby to go faster even though he was already dangerously over the speed limit. It was unlikely that Cas’ heat worked the way a human omega’s would work that’s what they’d all been saying. And his scent wasn’t exactly typical either that was surely a mark in Dean’s favour. Besides, Cas knew Dean better than anyone. Dean forced his thoughts away from his inner alpha which was shouting ‘ _ true mate, true mate, true mate _ ’ somewhere in the back of his mind. Cas would know he’d just need a minute...an hour...maybe more to calm down and then he’d be right back. Cas would know. Cas would know it wasn’t rejection. “Come on,” Dean snapped, slapping his hand against the side of Baby’s wheel as though that could possibly make a difference.

Soon but not soon enough, the cabin came into view and Dean let Baby’s door slam heavily behind him. Everything was just as he’d left it which in itself should have been concerning. There was no sign of an omega in heat and when he inhaled the air which should have been heavy with the scent of it was strangely clear.

“Cas?” Dean called, his voice breaking a little. He managed to force his feet forward to the bedroom and found that Cas was right where he’d left him. Or at least, he was at the same spot. He was twisted at an awkward angle that suggested he’d been trying to get up when he’d collapsed and Dean crossed the room faster than he’d ever moved in his life.

“No, Cas. No no no, you’re gonna be okay,” he wrapped an arm around Cas’ shoulder holding him up a little, checking for a sign of breath. There it was. It was faint, far fainter than it should ever have been but it was there and under it all, Dean could just about detect the faint scent that had triggered all of this. The impossibly clean brightness lingering just below the surface reaching Dean on a level he had never thought possible, soothing his alpha even now as gripped as he was by fear.

He’d known fear before of course. It was part of life as a hunter. Sam had died in his arms more times than he could remember, hell,  _ he’d _ died more times than he could count. There had been Hell and Purgatory but none of it came close, none of it came even remotely close to the fear that gripped him right now, like ice seeping through his blood.

‘ _ Mate _ ,’ his alpha crooned inwardly as Dean gave Cas a gentle shake.

“Cas? Hey, c’mon you gotta wake up...” But Cas remained limp in his arms. “Okay, okay, okay,” Dean breathed, “We can do this, think...”

He could call Rowena. She’d know but his phone was in his pocket and right now he didn’t want to take his arms away from Cas, not even for a moment. He’d done enough damage already. He knew basic biology. He knew that this was what happened when an omega was rejected by their mate and he knew that it didn’t have to be fatal.

Contact.

In the back of his mind, he could remember several biology lessons, all with a different teacher, probably in different schools but that was always the same. Contact...and something else.

Scenting.

Looking around the room Dean sniffed the air. They’d really done a number trying to neutralise any kind of smell in the room. Even though Dean currently reeked of desperation and worry the cabin was still pleasantly neutral. That would normally be a good thing, but right now it was frustratingly inconvenient.

Baby.

The idea came to him before Dean was really aware that he had lifted Cas into his arms. The Impala hadn’t been scent-proofed or whatever Rowena had called it. She should still smell like Dean especially given how he’d basically seen through the entire spectrum of emotions in her in the last couple of hours alone. Cas was a dead weight in his arms and it was with some difficulty that Dean actually managed to get him out of the cabin and into Baby’s back seat. Thankfully, as soon as he opened the door he felt his smokey scent that had once been described as woodsmoke and campfires wash over them. Reassuringly, Cas stirred in his arms.

Dean breathed a sigh of relief and slipped into the backseat beside him, still holding him close.

“I got you, Cas...” he hesitated over the unfamiliar endearment begging to be heard, “I got you...my omega.”


	6. Chapter 6

At some point in proceedings, Dean had managed to slip Cas’ trench coat off. Then he’d gone for the tie, the blazer, the shirt...if physical contact was the best thing for it better it be skin on skin. 

“This isn’t exactly how I’d imagined getting you out of these layers, Cas,” Dean said under his breath daring Cas to answer him. But he didn’t. If he had any opinion regarding the removal of his clothes he did not voice it, still oblivious to everything around him. His breathing seemed to even out a little once Dean had gotten his own shirt off, pulling Cas against his bare chest. Cas’ face fell naturally into the crook of Dean’s neck which was actually the best place it could have been. Wrapping his arms around him, Dean kept him close trying to match their breathing, calming himself and his scent, murmuring under his breath.

“You’ve gotta come back, Cas,” he whispered, “You gotta kick my ass for doing this to us… I’m so sorry, I was such an idiot. Come back so I can make it up to you...”

Cas didn’t answer but when Dean reached for his wrist he felt his pulse was a little stronger. In the silence of the car, Dean allowed the steadiness of Cas’ breath to lull him to sleep, holding his mate close hoping against hope he hadn’t messed this up beyond repair.

The sound of smashing glass woke Dean up before the touch did. Instinctively, his arms tightened around Cas, even as he felt the Impala’s door being ripped from behind him. Someone was clawing at him and not even his honed hunter’s reflexes were fast enough to register what was happening. The breath was knocked out of him as his back came into harsh contact with the ground a few feet from Baby. He rolled to the side knowing that the blow was coming before it landed even though he still hadn’t seen whatever it was that had attacked them. There was a dull thud where Dean’s head had been just a moment ago and in its place was an angel blade. He barely registered the being beside him but he kicked out at it anyway. It stumbled and Dean grabbed the blade, throwing himself to his feet so he could take stock of what was happening.

There were four of them and they might have been angels but Dean had never seen angels draped head to toe in white robes, obscuring every part of them even their faces. Dean ducked another blow from the one closest to him, countering it with surprising ease throwing whatever it was into Baby’s hood. He would have winced at the damage but he was already seeing red when he saw how they’d torn one of the rear doors off. But that paled in comparison to the rage that rose within Dean when he saw two of the robed figures reach for Cas.

He saw a clawed hand just about to touch Cas’ arm and taking a page from the angel’s book he threw the blade in his hand straight at the creature. It caught whatever it was square in the chest and it stumbled backwards with a flash of light surrounding the wound and a glow where eyes would be if it had such things under the robe. It let out some kind of unholy shriek and crumpled to the ground, the only movement after coming from where the breeze caught its robe. That seemed to give the others pause and Dean gave them a smile that was positively feral. 

He didn’t know what they were but he knew that they could die.

Another made for Cas again and Dean threw himself forward, barrelling into the figure, knocking it off its feet. The manoeuvre allowed him to put his own body between Cas and...whatever they were. The three of them regrouped and Dean used the brief respite it afforded him to retrieve the angel blade. One of the figures stepped forward and adjusted its robe, allowing its hood to fall back to reveal a face... Well, it might have been a face once. Its features were distorted beyond recognition, extended and elongated into something that looked more like a scream mask than a person. It had no eyes though - where eyes should have been were... _ wheels? _ Dean frowned tightening his grip on the angel blade. No, they were definitely wheels. It raised an arm and a withered hand appeared from beneath the robe, pointed quite deliberately at Cas.

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Dean growled and the thing clearly understood him enough to point again, this time with greater emphasis. “I don’t know what the hell you are, but you are  _ not _ taking him.” He shifted his weight. If they were going to come anywhere near Cas they would have to go through him first. Something which should have given them pause. 

Should have. But didn’t.

Dean Winchester did not have a normal relationship with his inner alpha. Blame it on the job or whatever but he ensured he kept tight control on that part of himself at all times. The last thing he needed on a hunt was to rage out and act from instinct alone. That kind of thing could get him killed or more importantly could get Sam killed. That was not to say he was repressed. It was just a matter of maintaining a clear head, never letting his hindbrain take over, never allowing his alpha to fully flex its muscles. At least until the moment when one of the figures actually managed to lay a finger on Cas.

It wasn’t much. Two of the creatures had stepped forward and the third had circled around, wrapping a decaying hand around Cas’ arm, lifting him awkwardly with a strength Dean wouldn’t have expected from such a shrivelled limb. Dimly, Dean was aware of a pounding in his ears, a roaring somewhere deep within him that screamed a single sentiment.

‘ _ Mate _ ... _ Mine _ .’

And then all bets were off. As was the arm that had taken hold of Cas.

He couldn’t even remember moving to strike but the blade was dripping with the creature’s blood. The arm lay somewhere on the ground, writhing still as though it could sense its own pain and the thing, whatever it was, was shrieking. But Dean’s alpha was smiling. He had never felt more confident than he did in this moment. This was  _ his _ mate and they would not take him. He reached out to grab the figure where its neck would be, obscured by the robes and then he drove the blade deep into its side. Again a light flared before it crumpled at Dean’s feet. Dean knelt beside Cas, resting a hand on his back and the last thing he was truly aware of before he let his alpha take full control was his low growl.

_“Mine._ ”


	7. Chapter 7

It was a sign of  _ why _ Dean did not allow his alpha to take control in a fight that he couldn’t remember how he came to dispatch the third figure. But when the haze cleared from his vision it was lying dead at his feet and the blade in his hand dripped with its blood. He had a vague impression that the final creature had attempted to sidestep him in an attempt to get to Cas but now it was just the two of them. The figure’s hood remained folded and the wheels that might have been eyes seemed to look straight through Dean as though he were something unsubstantial. Not that Dean cared how it viewed him. He was going to kill it either way. Again, it pointed to Cas but this time Dean didn’t dignify it with a response. Not a verbal one anyway. He raised the angel blade ready to bring it against the figure but he never got the chance. There was a blinding flash of light, forcing Dean to shield his eyes to protect against it. He heard the shriek of the creature but when the light faded and he lowered his arm it was nowhere to be seen. He spun around fearing that somehow it had made off with Cas but Cas was still there. In fact, he was no longer unconscious though he was still hunched over his knees, his own angel blade in hand, his other hand spread over a hastily drawn bloody sigil.

“Cas,” Dean breathed trying not to go full alpha at the sight of his mate. His  _ conscious _ mate. “Cas, you’re okay.” He heard the thud of the angel blade hitting the ground as he launched himself at Cas, catching himself at the last moment before he knocked them both over. His hands were everywhere touching Cas’ face, his shoulders, his arms, his chest as though he needed the touch to affirm that he was actually awake. Cas was shaking as though the effort of kneeling was too much but once Dean was close enough he allowed himself to collapse forward into Dean’s arms, leaning heavily against him.

“Dean,” came his weak rasp but there was a tinge of relief there. Relief and confusion, “Dean...where are our clothes?”

Dean drew back, appreciating for the first time that both of them were bare-chested, though Dean’s skin seemed to be stained with blood that was thankfully not his own. In the face of Cas’ innocent confusion, Dean couldn’t help but laugh, the adrenaline catching up with him and he buried his face in the crook of Cas’ neck, breathing his scent in deeply. It was still strange but already so familiar and comforting.

Without the rush of the fight, Dean could appreciate how cold the night air was against his bare skin and Cas must be suffering too. With a complete lack of finesse, he hoisted Cas into his arms, bridal style and carried him back into the cabin which was at least warded. All that effort and he’d left them wide open. Maybe he should figure out a way to ward Baby without messing up her interior.

His alpha wanted to take Cas to the bedroom and his hindbrain was screaming at him to do so but Dean managed to fight off the refrain screaming, ‘ _ Mate. Mine. Claim _ ,’ and instead opted to lay him out on the sofa so he could check him over. His heart sank a little when he realised that Cas couldn’t quite meet his eye.

“Hey,” Dean said gently, “I’m just going to go and get something to clean us up, okay?” He hesitated as though walking to the sink and back was a distance too far to put between them. Still, Cas didn’t look at him. “Okay,” Dean breathed, “I’ll be back.”

He ran them a bowl of warm water and threw in some hand soap. It wasn’t perfect but it would do. The dishcloth looked as though it had seen better days, but given how bloodied Dean was, it probably wouldn’t matter. He gave it a thorough rinse anyway before he went back.

Cas wasn’t hurt, or at least he wasn’t injured in such a way that Dean could discern. Even so, Dean took great care checking him over, wiping away the dirt and grit where he’d been knocked around. Under his touch, Cas flinched and looked away, his jaw set as though he’d rather be anywhere else even as his scent intensified under Dean’s hand. If Dean hadn’t already known that he was in the early stages of heat, the way his pupils dilated and his nostrils flared would have proven it.

“So...what were those things?” asked Dean, casually, casting about for a neutral subject. Any subject really. Anything to hold off the conversation they would inevitably have.

Cas glared at him for a moment with a bitch face that could rival even Sam’s finest before he muttered, “Thrones. The lowest choir of angel, no doubt sent to see what kind of resistance I’d put up,” he added almost reluctantly when he realised Dean was looking at him cluelessly.

“What did you do, banish them?”

“It was easily done. They are the weakest of us.”

An awkward silence descended on them as Dean turned his attention to scrubbing the blood from his own skin.

“You don’t have to stay,” Cas snapped pointedly.

“Cas...”

“The cabin is warded, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Cas, you almost...you could have-”

Cas didn’t physically push Dean away from him but he came mighty close. Instead, he seemed to close in on himself, putting as much distance between them as if he had walked out of the room.

“Please, don’t feel the need to stay for my sake,” he said coldly and Dean winced, dropping the bloody cloth and taking Cas’ hands in his own.

“That’s not...That’s not why I’m here. Cas, I’m sorry, I freaked out and I didn’t think. If I’d known I’d never have-”

“Rejected me? I believe that’s what it’s called, isn’t it?”

Dean squeezed Cas’ hands almost desperately, “Cas, I’m not rejecting you. I get...I get I messed up but I never thought for a moment I’d have a true mate, I never thought it’d be  _ you _ .”

It was clear that Cas was taking everything Dean said - and intended to say - the wrong way, whether intentionally or not and at that he tried to pull his hands back but Dean wouldn’t let them go. Cas gave a sigh that belied his great age. “I wasn’t expecting it either though I admit I didn’t think the prospect of having me as a mate would be so distasteful to you.”

“ _ Cas _ ,” Dean breathed, “Cas, no! It’s not like that. I-”

And then Dean’s alpha did something it had never done before. It made him stop.

An alpha’s hindbrain was usually so preoccupied with baser instincts; the need to fight, to knot, to claim, it wasn’t often that it brought Dean to a halt. Usually, it was him battling with his inner alpha to keep the latter under control. But his alpha knew what Cas needed, what  _ his mate _ needed and right now that wasn’t his knot. It was reassurance. It was as much a shock to Dean as it would be to Cas, that his alpha was telling him to slow down, to forego the increasing desire to instead get closer, to talk.

“Cas,” Dean tried again and there was something different in his tone. Something that commanded Cas’ attention without demanding it. “I ran because I was scared. Surprised? Sure. I mean all this time I didn’t even know you were an omega and now you’re my true mate? Yeah, sue me. I freaked. I never imagined I’d ever find my true mate. I mean I’m not exactly prime alpha material, I’ve got about twelve bucks to my name, a handful of fake credit cards and the best thing I can hope for in life is to be saving someone when I die. You…? You’re incredible, Cas. I don’t mean ‘coz you’re an angel and you’ve got that whole immortality, older than the sun thing going on. I mean ‘coz...you’re you. You’re gorgeous, you’re the smartest person I know and I’m counting Sam in that. You’re kind and you’re funny,” he smirked despite himself. “Christ, you’re funny. You sure drew the short straw. All of heaven and earth and you got me? I’m nothing.”

There was a beat where neither of them moved and then Cas wrenched his hands back from Dean’s grip. Not that Dean had a moment to mourn the lack of touch as he reached forward and cupped Dean’s face, pulling him forward and kissing him as though he were the very air he needed to breathe. 

And who was Dean to deny him?

Kissing Cas was like kissing a storm. it scorched him from the inside out and all Dean could do was hold on, thankful that he could at least reach for Cas’ shoulders so he had something to ground him otherwise he would surely have drifted off. Blinked out of existence from the bliss of being kissed by an angel. Not that ‘kissing’ was an apt word for what Cas was doing to him. It was heaven. It was rapture. It was over far too quickly.

When Cas drew back as harshly as he’d leaned in in the first place, Dean could only stare a little (alright, a lot) in shock at what had just happened.

“You are  _ everything _ , Dean Winchester,” Cas said fiercely. “Everything.”

He dropped a smaller kiss to Dean’s lips. Fleeting. A benediction.

Leaning back on his haunches, Dean dropped his gaze from Cas to a vague space on the floor. “Huh...” he said, a thousand and one longing glares, casual touches given context that he could never have hoped for.

_ ‘He has this weakness. He likes you.’ _

_ ‘Sorry, you have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who’s in love with you.’ _

_ ‘Ask him, he was your boyfriend first.’ _

Dean looked back at Cas who seemed to be regarding him with a patient half-smile as though he were perfectly aware of the train of Dean’s thoughts.

“But...” Dean started, “You never said.”

“Neither did you,” Cas replied but it wasn’t an accusation.

They stared at each other for a while longer as though the universe was adjusting to this new change between them and they were at the centre of it. Everything had changed. Nothing had changed.

Eventually, Cas asked, hesitantly, almost shy, a world away from the angel of the Lord who had kissed Dean senseless a moment ago. “Dean, may I scent you?”

A joke was on the very tip of Dean’s tongue, something between, ‘Like you have to ask?’ and a sarcastic, ‘No way,’ but he caught himself just in time. This was all new to Cas, to both of them. So instead he just smiled and leaned in. “Sure, Cas.”

Even though Dean had said it was okay, Cas still hesitated. He approached in increments pausing to gauge whether it was still alright for him to close the distance between them. As though to encourage him, Dean lowered his shoulder, allowing him easier access to his neck. Then it was just a short matter of finally moving and Castiel gently nosed around Dean’s collar, trying to locate the scent gland and adorably having to rely on his sense of smell rather than experience to do so. Still, it meant that Dean could pinpoint the exact moment Cas found it, when he relaxed against Dean and took a deep breath, a small sigh of satisfaction escaping him.

Dean allowed his hands to trace the lines of Cas’ back, marvelling that he could touch him at all. His skin was smooth under his fingertips and even though he couldn’t have been warm, there was a faint sheen of sweat; the earliest signs of his heat. Cas left a short trail of kisses along Dean’s jawline and something about the sweetness of the touch had Dean’s alpha positively purring. Then Cas fell forward, slipping from the sofa and crashing into Dean and if it weren’t for the way he gripped at Dean’s back, circling his arms as though they weren’t close enough, Dean would have assumed he’d collapsed again.

“Cas?”

“I never thought I could have this,” Cas whispered, so quietly he might not have spoken at all but there was a tremor in his voice. The slightest hint of a sob. “ _Please_ say we can have this.”

Dean pulled him in closer, even though there wasn’t a breath of space between them.

“Yeah, yeah we can. You’re my true mate, right?”

At that, Cas drew back a little and hesitated, “Will you be patient with me? This whole situation is new to me. I haven’t had cause to think of myself as an omega in...well...centuries.” He shifted a little in Dean’s arms. “I feel...uncomfortable, does heat usually do that?”

Despite himself, Dean threw his head back and laughed. “Oh Cas, this is nothing, give it a day or so and you’re gonna be climbing the walls begging for a knot.” He realised what he’d said a beat too late and he clapped his hand over his mouth, flushing a deep shade of red, “I didn’t...Cas I didn’t mean...”

Cas’ expression was unreadable. “Maybe...maybe we should talk some more before we think about you knotting me? I’m still upset you disappeared the way you did.”

Dean let out a long, slow breath thinking that things could have gone very differently. But instead of having to reassure his omega that he wasn’t going to jump him at the first opportunity however much his alpha might want to, Dean just brushed a stray hair from Cas’ face and said, gently, “Sure, Cas. Whatever you need.”


	8. Chapter 8

It was strange to go from desperately trying to wake Cas up, to fighting off angels, to kissing to... _ this _ .  _ This _ being the early stages of Cas’ heat which Dean could only describe as domestic. At first, he hadn’t been able to get comfortable until Dean had found him some baggy clothes that at least allowed him some freedom of movement without making him feel as restricted as his usual suit did. He had tried to relax in the bedroom, surprised to find that even in the earliest stages he was exhausted. For a being that did not require rest or sleep, it was a disconcerting experience. Dean had helped him to make a nest which had helped a little, and he couldn’t stop the warm swell within him when Cas had insisted on putting Dean’s clothes around it.

“I’m hungry,” he snapped once he’d gotten himself settled amongst the flannel and denim that made up his nest but it was not a demand, simply an irritation. “I don’t like this, Dean. I haven’t been hungry for a long time.”

“I’ll make you something,” Dean offered preening a little that he was able to take care of his mate in these small ways.

“You shouldn’t have to,” Cas grumbled but Dean only reached over to touch his shoulder, revelling in the fact of casual touches alone.

“Hey,” he said gently, “I  _ want to _ . I’ll make dinner, I’ll just be in the kitchen.”

Cas nodded mutely though he looked more than a little dismayed at the prospect of putting distance between them, however small, even though it had been his idea to take things slowly.

Dean checked the cupboards, reminding himself what they had actually bought in terms of supplies and patted himself on the back for assuming he’d need to treat Cas like any other omega in heat. Jimmy had liked burgers, Dean remembered that much...maybe Cas would too? He heated a pan and threw the burgers in to cook; he wasn’t making them from scratch but they would do. He set the buns to toast and then started on making a salad. Normally he wouldn’t have sullied his hands in such a fashion, especially when it involved avocado and kale but Sam had sworn by the salad as an excellent source of protein and Charlie had loved it so he would make it now. If Cas needed something later then at least he’d be able to pick at it and it would keep a day or so.

He’d barely started cutting into the first avocado when Cas’ arms came around his chest from behind. Cas pressed against him flush against Dean’s back as he buried his face in Dean’s neck, mumbling something that was already lost.

“Didn’t catch that, Cas.”

“I missed you,” Cas huffed as though his feelings were a major inconvenience. “The nest didn’t smell enough like you.”

“It won’t always be like this,” Dean soothed, doing his best to slice the ingredients for the salad with the extra weight hanging around him. “In a couple of days we’ll have scent bonded and then you won’t need me near you.”

Cas mumbled into the back of Dean’s shoulder. “I always want you near me.”

“Didn’t think you’d be such a sap,” Dean grinned; a defensive remark to deflect from the raging emotions he never thought he would feel.

“You clearly haven’t been paying attention,” Cas grumbled. “I’ve made a point to be as close to you as circumstances allow since I raised you from perdition.”

“Good point. Make yourself useful and flip those burgers, will you?”

Cas did so and then leaned on the counter so he could watch Dean assemble the salad. “You don’t eat salad,” he noted.

“It’s for you. In case you get hungry later.”

Cas didn’t answer that but when Dean looked over at him he was staring at Dean as though he had hung the moon. “Thank you,” he rasped. “That’s very kind of you. I have to admit this whole experience is unsettling.”

“Yeah, about that,” clearing his throat, awkwardly, Dean figured he might as well get the inevitable conversation out the way. “So, a big thing with heats is wanting to be knotted. Now I’m happy to wait, but I would put my last buck on you asking me to knot you before the week is over. So…?” he trailed off, leaving the question hanging, but Cas didn’t seem to pick up on it.

“So...what?”

“While you’re lucid and not out of your gourd on pheromones...if you ask...do you want me to ignore you or...you know...” Dean didn’t say it but he did shoot Cas a pointed look.

“Oh, you want to know whether I’m happy for you to knot me?”

Dean had been sprinkling sweetcorn over the greens evenly but at that he just sort of dumped what remained onto the salad without much grace or finesse, a pile of yellow kernels surrounded by green. He gripped the edge of the counter harshly, his pants suddenly and quite unnaturally tight where they shouldn’t have been.

“Cas,” he choked, “You can’t...you can’t say stuff like that, jeez...”

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean could see Cas looking at him, trying to figure out what he’d said but without an answer immediately forthcoming he decided to leave it. Still, he was quiet for a few moments longer before he shrugged. “I am utterly indifferent to sexual pleasure so if it will help with the symptoms, feel free to knot me.”

Try as he might there was no way for Dean to hide the stab of hurt that rocked him and from the way he heard Cas sniff the air it was clear he’d caught it through scent if not by sight.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Dean sighed. “It’s nothing Cas, it’s just...knotting is a pretty big deal on earth, it’s...it’s not really something...”

“...you undertake lightly?” Cas said thoughtfully. “In that regard, I suppose it isn’t much different to how angels take a mate.” He inhaled sharply, his hand moving to his stomach and Dean turned, the salad and the argument momentarily forgotten.

“Are you alright?”

Cas frowned, “I believe I’m experiencing...cramps.”

“Alright, let’s just...let’s shelve the talking for now and just focus on getting you through this, okay?” Dean threw the last few ingredients onto the salad and served up the burgers, shoving the plate towards Cas, “Eat. We’ll...we’ll figure this out, Cas.”

Cas took the plate uncertainly, “Thank you, Dean. It looks...” he looked as though he wanted to compliment it but was unsure what he might actually say until he caught the smell of the food and he couldn’t help but smile. “I’m sure it’s delicious.”

It was. Cas cleared his plate and had started on the salad before Dean had even finished his burger.

“I missed this,” he mumbled through a mouthful of greens which made Dean chuckle. He hadn’t imagined Cas would be such a messy eater.

“Food?”

“Good food,” Cas said emphatically. “Being able to appreciate food. It doesn’t taste like molecules.”

“Yeah well, remember to save some for later, you might need it,” Dean yawned and glanced at the wall clock just to confirm how insanely late it was. So late it was practically early.

“Dean!” Cas said suddenly having followed his gaze toward the clock. “You haven’t slept!”

He was exhausted, beyond exhausted but the need to watch out for his mate, to make sure Cas was safe had gotten him through any need for rest. Dean knew that when he actually stopped, he’d crash hard and probably need more than his four hours. But until then his alpha instincts if nothing else would keep him going.

“I’ll catch a nap here,” he said shoving his plate away and tapping the sofa. “If you can do without me for a few but you can wake me up if you need me.” He studied Cas for a moment. “Actually, I’m gonna need you to promise you’ll wake me up if you need me. Don’t try being heroic or try and do all this heat stuff by yourself, yeah?”

Cas looked between Dean and the sofa a few times before he said, with complete innocence, “I think you should take the bed.”

“I made that bed up for you, Cas.”

“I know, I thought it might be more comfortable for you and easier for me to scent you if I need to.”

Dean’s mouth went very dry, very quickly and he forced down the images that came to him unbidden of Cas lying close to him, trying to get closer…

“Okay,” he just about managed to rasp out. “Whatever you say, Cas.”


	9. Chapter 9

Despite his day job, as a general rule, Dean Winchester had a fairly healthy relationship with sleep. Sure, there were nights when there were nightmares and those nightmares were a hundred times worse than what the average human had to put up with. But there were other dreams too; normal ones. Mundane ones. Some were even pleasant. But no dreams of Sam and Cas on the beach, of a normal life with his parents whole and untouched by anything demonic could compare to the dreams Dean dreamt that first night with his mate wrapped in his arms and Cas’ clean, pure scent soothing him to sleep. There were lazy kisses traded under moonlight, long embraces on white sands, and through it all Dean was completely aware of the warm weight of Cas against him, more real than anything he had ever dreamed before.

Ultimately, that was what woke him. He could feel Cas’ discomfort and when he started shifting against Dean, it pulled him away from an overlook he may never have visited sometime in spring; but it was the soft whine that brought Dean to the world of the waking.

The room was not dark. Even with the flimsy excuse for curtains drawn, Dean could see everything clearly as though they might as well not have been there at all. Cas was still in his arms and even through the fabric of his clothes Dean could feel the heat of him. The sweat.

“Cas?” he asked, gently, aware that the omega was now trying not to move around too much even though he clearly wasn’t comfortable. “Hey, Cas, you okay?”

But Cas wouldn’t look at him, too busy trying to bury his face in Dean’s neck as though it were the only thing that could give him relief.

“Cas,” Dean said, firmly, tilting his head so he could look into his eyes, a small ‘ _ ah _ ’ of understanding escaping him once he’d done so. A thin sheen of sweat clung to Castiel’s skin and his face was flushed with heat in more ways than one. Most telling of all though were his eyes. Cas’ eyes which were usually a brighter blue than the clearest of seas were now tinged with flecks of gold that seemed to burn brighter than his grace ever had.

“I...I...” Cas stuttered pulling his face from Dean’s touch as though it burned him. “I don’t know what I need,” he managed to hiss, trying to scent Dean almost desperately. “It’s not enough.”

“Hey,” Dean murmured gently. “It’s going to be okay, you’re alright, we’ll figure out what you need.”

“You,” Cas managed to breathe wrapping himself around Dean tightly, pulling him flush against his chest, “Need...you...but...” he trailed off panting for breath already. “I don’t know- I...” his eyes met Dean’s and there was no blue to be seen. “I need  _ you _ , alpha,” he said trying the unfamiliar word on his tongue.

No amount of self-control in the world could have held Dean back from the thrill that rushed through him at hearing those words. Those words from  _ his _ omega. In his mind, he’d had an entire conversation with Cas before they did anything like this. He figured they’d at least talk about what could be expected when the moment came. Now that the moment was upon them, there were no words that could have been spoken. Instead, with Cas nosing at the gland at his neck, his breath hot and pleading against his ear all he could do was surge forward and crash their lips together.

Cas opened his mouth to him immediately, his arms clinging to Dean’s shoulders pulling him impossibly closer. There was no space between them, but still he tried, his fingers frantically trying to rid Dean of his shirt even though they trembled too much to grip anything. Dean broke the kiss, gasping down air and with a far more practised motion slipped his shirt off, throwing it somewhere into the room, before he slid Cas’ over his head allowing skin to grace skin. The moan Cas let out was one of pure satisfaction at the contact and uttered far too close to Dean’s ear to be decent. Not since that first rut after he’d presented had Dean been so close to popping a knot with so little stimulation. But with Cas flush against him, his lips teasing the shell of Dean’s ear, small breathy moans escaping him...it was all more stimulating than full sex with some of Dean’s other partners. 

Nothing could compare to this. Nothing could  _ ever _ compare to this.

This was bliss, or at least Dean thought so until Castiel rolled them so he was straddling Dean’s hips, mouthing at the space where a mating bite might go. Dean lay back but on his next breath, he froze. Cas’ scent was there, intensified by their proximity but there was something else. Something fainter, something new, something infinitely sweeter.

His hands traced down Cas’ back, taking in the swell of his ass and at the first brush against underwear that was quickly becoming damp, Dean was lost. He ground his hips up, the hard line of his erection flush against Cas’ thighs, finding the friction he desperately needed. He slipped a hand beneath the waistband of Cas’ pants and trailed a finger lower...lower.

When his finger brushed over the first hint of slick, they both let out a moan but Dean’s alpha let out a roar.

“More...” he heard Cas breathe, grinding down against Dean’s finger, allowing it to breach him easily. Cas threw his head back, his eyes half-lidded against the surge of pleasure of so simple a touch and Dean could only stare at him; he’d never imagined having Cas like this. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, he’d imagined plenty but even in the most erotic of fantasies, Cas hadn’t looked like  _ this _ . He looked completely fucked out and they hadn’t even started yet. Any thoughts of dragging it out were lost as Dean felt his knot already swelling. In his dreams, he’d taken Cas apart, but right now, as Cas drove his hips back and back, whimpering for more, there was no chance of it.

With a growl worthy of the alpha he was, he flipped their positions, throwing Cas down against the mattress and crawling up between his legs, claiming his lips heatedly. Cas tried to buck his hips, grind his own cock against Dean’s, but Dean had already manoeuvred himself so that he could make quick work of losing their pants.

“Dean,” Cas gasped, his cock bobbing hard enough to bounce off his stomach when it was freed from the constraints of his clothes. “Please...”

Dean didn’t waste any time, his finger slipped into Cas’ slick hole easily and he started teasing a second one in. Even though he’d intended to give Cas only what he needed, Dean couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and pressed his lips to the tip of Cas’ cock, revelling in the way Cas’ gasped at the contact.

“ _ Dean _ ,” he pleaded again, not entirely sure what he was pleading for, but he writhed under Dean’s touch, leaning into it and then pulling away as though it were too much, only to lean in again a moment later. Dean took him further into his mouth, allowing the sweet, musky scent to wash over him, he let a third finger slip into Cas, trying to take his time, trying not to rush it even as his omega begged to be taken and his alpha was in full agreement.

Dean pulled off with an indecently loud pop, “I got you, omega,” he breathed, “I got you.”

He put a hand on Cas’ hip, holding him steady, which wasn’t easy given how Cas squirmed under his touch. But as soon as he felt the tip of Dean’s cock tease at his hole he stilled a little. Dean slipped in slowly, holding Castiel at the hip so that he couldn’t grind down and hurt himself. It was taking all his self-control not to just thrust in as deeply as he could, his whole world had zeroed in on the warm, slick heat that surrounded him, his hindbrain caught in a never-ending circle of ‘ _ Knot, Claim, Mate _ .’

In increments he inched deeper, gazing in wonder at Cas who arched so beautifully at his touch, who gasped for breath, his pleasure evident in every ragged inhale. He was so responsive, a marvel, a wonder and when Dean was fully seated, for a second the two of them paused, looking at each other, golden eyes meeting red-flecked green, just taking in the moment. As though they had just realised where they were and what they were doing and yet they still couldn’t believe it.

Until Dean started moving. Then all bets were off. Dean drew out a little and thrust in, his hips snapping against Cas’ and Cas threw his head back, screaming Dean’s name. It was enough to have Dean’s knot catching in record time. He could feel it stretching Cas’ rim with every movement as Dean drove deeper and deeper, knowing he’d found the sweet spot when Cas arched beneath him, his eyes closed and mouth fallen open in a silent ‘ _ oh _ .’ Neither of them would last long and Dean dropped his face to Cas’ neck, instinctively sensing his way to where the mating bite would go, even if he knew he probably shouldn’t do it right now, not without talking about it first. Not that talking about it was on his mind, there was nothing but his mate, the intense heat and the glorious sweet scent that rose around them.

“Cas,” he breathed unable to form words. There was nothing except the wondrous pleasure closing around him. “Omega...my omega,” he managed just as his knot caught and then there were stars. He came, hard, wonderfully hard, his head thrown back while Cas painted what space remained between them with his own release, letting out soft mewls, still grinding against Dean’s knot, riding himself through the aftershocks.

When Dean could breathe again, he collapsed forward, falling heavily onto Castiel’s chest but Cas didn’t mind. His hands were everywhere, his lips were at Dean’s neck, his ear, anywhere he could reach, a steady whisper of, “Dean, my alpha...” on his breath, until he too succumbed to the exhaustion and fell silent.

How long they lay like that Dean didn’t know. His knot was still buried in Cas who was still gloriously warm around him. Every time he twitched Dean felt sparks explode behind his eyes and after a while, he wondered if Cas wasn’t doing it on purpose. Dean propped himself up on one arm and looked down at Cas only to find he was already looking up at him, his eyes wondrously blue once more.

“Better?” Dean rasped his voice hoarse even though it hadn’t been him who had been screaming.

Cas nodded fervently. “Much.”

“This should help for a while,” Dean said wondering if he could press a kiss to Cas’ forehead before he decided he could probably get away with it given that they were tied together with his dick still buried in Cas’ ass.

“Dean I...” Cas hesitated and Dean felt his heart sink. He’d gone too far. “Dean, I believe I misspoke earlier. I said I was indifferent to sexual pleasure. I believe that to be a lie.”

Cas caught his eye and smiled up at him so beautifully, Dean’s laugh died on his throat and instead he kissed him, slowly and lovingly, his heart almost bursting when Cas kissed him back.

“Feel free to do that again, that was...that was...” he added seriously, chasing Dean’s lips, moaning when the motion caused Dean to move inside of him.

“That was nothing, Cas,” Dean said with a shrug in his voice if not his shoulders. “We hardly did anything. There are so many more things we can do. You were just so desperate I couldn’t keep my hands off you.”

“Wait, there’s  _ more? _ ” Cas demanded, his eyes widening, “We can do more than that? Do...do you think we’ll be able to explore it before my heat ends.”

“Well sure, but you know we don’t have to stop when your heat ends, you can have this whenever...” Dean flushed, “If you want, I mean, it’s...it’s up to you, we don’t have to-” he rambled off, suddenly regretting that they were tied and he couldn’t move away to hide his embarrassment, or the potential hurt at not being able to be with Cas like this, all the time.

“We can do this any time?!”

“Jesus Cas, how long have you been watching humans again?”

Cas waved a hand dismissively and though Dean couldn’t see it, he felt the motion. “The specifics of mating were never of interest to me...” he beamed at Dean, “Until now.”

Dean smiled back at him and they shifted a little in the bed drawing each other closer until Dean’s knot went down.

“We can really do this at any time?” Cas asked again, suddenly when they had been quiet for a while, “Really? I don’t have to be in heat.”

“Yeah, Cas. Whenever you want.”

Cas had never celebrated Christmas with them and Dean had no idea what holidays angels observed. But the way he looked at Dean right now with nothing short of utter euphoria, Dean felt like every single one of them had come at once for the omega in his arms.


	10. Chapter 10

There was always something disconcerting about watching Cas sleep. He looked so peaceful, even though a thin veneer of heat-induced sweat shimmered on his skin. But there was something unnatural about it. However comfortable it was to have Cas in his arms Dean couldn’t help but feel like Cas eating and sleeping was practically a klaxon for things not being right. Still, Dean would have been lying if he’d said he hadn’t had one of the best night's sleep he could remember, wrapped around his omega.

His omega.

Would he ever get used to that?

Leaning in Dean pressed a kiss to Cas’ forehead which seemed cool even against the heat. There were several things he should be doing. They both needed to clean up, Cas would surely need something to eat and Dean’s stomach was already demanding breakfast, but right now he didn’t want to move, revelling in the comfort of holding Cas so close.

Dean’s ears pricked when he heard the low rumble of an engine outside. Cas was still asleep but Dean froze, listening to the distinct sound of a car parking and doors slamming. Dean hadn’t brought his gun into this room, _dammit_ why hadn’t he brought any of the weapons into the nest? He hadn’t thought to do it when he’d been making it up and then they’d gotten...distracted.

“ _Dean?!_ ” he heard Sam call and it should have been a relief but as his brother slammed through the front door something else hit him. Sam had obviously been driving all night, his habitual scent blockers had started to wear off and the faintest scent of a rival alpha seeped into the air along with his shout.

“ _Dean?! Cas?!_ ”

The bedroom door flung open and Sam barely had a moment to see that Dean and Castiel were in one piece, almost literally given how close they were entwined before Dean leapt from the bed and landed an impressive strike against his brother’s jaw. Sam stumbled backwards, into the hallway, but Dean didn’t give him a chance to recover. There was a part of his brain that registered Sam, his brother and therefore not a threat. But that part had been drowned out by the need for an alpha to protect his mate.

Sam held his hands up to fend off the blows, but he didn’t attempt to fight back.

“Dean, it’s me-”

Someone was trying to pull Dean off and it must have been Cas for his scent surrounded him but it was alarmed, worried and Dean’s alpha reacted accordingly to the presence of another alpha and his mate’s distress. There was another shout, a bang and then Dean found himself inexplicably at the end of the hallway, crumpled in a heap.

Rowena strode towards them purposely, helping Sam up, cuffing him around the head as she did so. Dean didn’t hear what she said to him but he ducked back out the way he came as she sprayed a scent inhibitor where he had been.

“I told him that would happen,” she sighed her face a picture of frustration, “Good grief, it’s a miracle the two of you survived presentation.”

The scent inhibitor did its job well. Dean couldn’t smell Sam or Cas for that matter and while he missed his mate’s scent it gave him a moment to think. He sat up, quickly, “Sam!” he started, the worry evident in his voice, but Rowena was already holding her hands up.

“He’ll be fine. Now, maybe the two of you should take a moment, breathe and while you’re at it, Dean dear, as much as I appreciate the view, perhaps you would like to _put some clothes on_.”

Dean froze for a second time looking down at himself to realise that Sam had disturbed him and Cas in bed and that they were, as a result, completely naked. Rowena gave a huff of amusement and stepped out after Sam, leaving Cas to help Dean up.

“Cas-” Dean started but Cas cut him off, claiming his lips in a searing kiss. “Wha-?” he breathed when Cas pulled back, but the question died on his tongue when he saw that Cas’ eyes had once again blown into omega gold.

“We need-” Cas gasped between desperate, filthy kisses, “-to go back to bed.”

Dean wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, this didn’t seem to be anything to do with the heat but who was he to deny his mate who all but dragged him back into the nest? Cas landed heavily on Dean, pushing him down onto the bed, sealing their lips together and moaning into Dean’s mouth as they rutted against each other.

Whatever this was, it didn’t last. It couldn’t. Not with Cas as desperate as he was, all but clawing at Dean as he thrust against him, throwing his head back and coming with a startled cry, as though he had surprised himself with the force of it. Dean couldn’t help but follow him over the edge - he just looked so spectacular, taking what he needed within the same twenty-four hour period that he’d admitted he didn’t care for sex.

Cas fell against Dean, panting heavily against his neck, neither of them particularly caring about the mess they’d made of each other, or that in falling into it, Cas had only spread it further across their abdomens. Dean’s hands trailed along Cas’ back, soothing gentle patterns across it as Cas kissed his jaw, his neck, the shell of his ear.

“I’m sorry Sam got hurt,” he sighed nuzzling into Dean’s shoulder. “However, I cannot promise I won’t rile an alpha up in the future just to see your reaction.”

A pang of possessiveness thrummed through Dean and he tightened his grip on Cas’ shoulders, holding him tightly.

“I’m joking,” Cas whispered.

“Yeah, you better be,” Dean grumbled, kissing him with enough force to bruise.

“Boys!” Rowena trilled from somewhere in the hallway, her tone caught between impatient and amused. “In your own time.”

Dean left a final, lingering kiss on Cas’ lips. “We should definitely shower before we go out there. You feeling up to it?”

Cas thought about it for a moment, closing his eyes in an attempt to figure out the changes in his body. “I think I’ll be alright,” he said, “But, for simplicity’s sake, maybe we should shower separately.”

Dean snorted. “That’s not a bad idea. One more kiss though.”

Rowena was waiting for Dean at the end of the hallway, spraying him with a more neutral scent the moment he stepped out of the bedroom.

“The hell are you doing here, anyway?” Dean asked.

“Go talk to your brother, he’s outside. And don’t worry, I’ve doused him in scent blockers so you won’t need to go all dominant alpha on him.” Dean made to pass her but she caught his arm before he could. “How is he?” she asked, nodding her head to the bedroom Dean had just left.

Frowning, Dean thought for a moment. “He’s okay...I think. There’ve been a lot of changes, he’s still getting used to some of them.”

Rowena gave a hum that could have meant anything, but she let go of Dean’s arm, “Well,” she said, kindly, “It looks like you’ve gotten your head out of your pretty behind, so the hardest part would seem to be over. I’ll check him over, make sure everything is progressing as it should - and don’t make that face. I’m here to help!”

“Sure,” Dean grumbled still not entirely willing to trust her, even though if it hadn’t been for Rowena, Cas would probably have succumbed to rejection. And, Dean would have likely ripped Sam’s head off. Still, he wasn’t a hundred percent convinced of her motives and Rowena hid her own scent as much as the Winchesters did. Come to think of it, Dean wasn’t even sure what Rowena’s secondary was. Not that he had cause or reason to ponder it often. Or at all.

Sam was outside as Rowena had said he would be. As soon as he saw Dean he threw his hands up, “Sorry, man, I didn’t think, I should have-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dean waved him off. “I’m sorry for the...” he gestured to the bruise starting to form where his fist had connected with his brother’s jaw. Sam rubbed at it but he clearly didn’t mind that much. “Why are you here?”

“Seriously, Dean?” Sam huffed, sporting one of his more impressive bitch-faces. “You call us to say that Cas is your true mate and you’d pretty much rejected him-”

“I didn’t-”

“Then neither of you answer your Goddamned phones so we floor it through the night to see if everything’s okay and we find the car...” he looked back at Baby which still bore the damage from the night before. In the cold light of day, Dean winced to look at her with her smashed rear windscreen and one door ripped clean off. “So yeah, we came. We were worried about you both.”

“ _We?_ ” Dean raised an eyebrow and Sam rolled his eyes in response.

“Yes, we. I know we’ve had our beef with Rowena, but she’s alright.” Dean hummed, noncommittally but Sam threw his hands up exasperated. “Anyway, what happened?” He looked over at Baby, his expression grim, “did the angels come for Cas?”

“Kinda. It was my fault,” Dean sighed, running a hand over Baby’s broken door. “When I got back, Cas was...well he...” he couldn’t quite meet Sam’s gaze, “he wasn’t conscious. I tried to bring him ‘round but...then I remembered the car would smell like me, so I dragged him out into her. ‘Course forgot about all that work and we were in the one place we hadn’t warded. Some low-level angels came for him, but I...well...I killed most of them, Cas woke up and banished the other one.”

They were quiet for a moment before Sam prompted, “ _and?_ ”

“And what?”

“Well...are you guys mated now? You said he was your true mate, so...did you claim him?”

Dean almost smacked his brother again, “Sam!”

“What? You’re true mates, you were in bed together, you weren’t wearing anything, I’m just asking-”

“Okay, okay,” Dean snapped, “We...we haven’t talked about it yet. We’re taking things slow.” Sam snorted, so Dean rolled his eyes, “We’re taking things as slow as we can when one of us is in heat and we’re true mates.”

That made Sam chuckle at least and the undercurrent of tension between them fizzled into nothing. “You wanna come in?” Dean asked, “I promise I won’t slug you.”

“Cool. Rowena said she’d sprayed the place anyway, you guys reeked.”

“Shut up,” Dean grumbled, leading Sam back towards the cabin.

“Dean, wait,” Sam said, suddenly, pulling Dean back lightly, before they could go back in. His eyes seemed to search his brother’s face for a moment, “Are you...you’re happy right? This is a good thing?”

The smile that crept across Dean’s face couldn’t have been stopped and he positively beamed at his brother. “Yeah, Sam. Yeah, I think it might be.”

Rowena and Cas were in deep conversation, barely looking up when Sam and Dean came in. Sam moved closer to them, probably to pat Cas’ shoulder or something similar, but even with scent blockers, Dean growled at him. Sam threw his hands up and backed off scratching his nose against the undertones of an omega in heat and Dean’s possessiveness, which no amount of spray could mask.

“We’re not staying, Samuel,” Rowena announced, “Castiel was telling me that the thrones are after you,” she said, turning to Dean. “Luckily for you, they’re the weakest and the most easily fooled, I’m sure I can devise a spell to lure them away from here. Make them think Castiel is on the other side of the state at least. That should give you some breathing room while you claim him.”

Her matter of fact tone was completely at odds with the way Dean practically recoiled, blushing furiously. “Oh...we haven’t-” he caught Cas’ eye and looked away, quickly. Rowena and Sam needed to leave. They needed to leave now.

“Beyond that,” Rowena continued, as though she hadn’t been interrupted, “it seems as though this heat is no more unnatural than any other. The symptoms are progressing as you’d expect, it’s still early days so it’s all rather mild for the moment.”

“Mild?” Cas snapped, affronted, “ _This_ is mild?!”

Rowena patted his head, gently. Omega, she must be an omega, Dean thought. Even though he couldn’t scent her, he knew. If an alpha or even a beta had gotten too close to Cas right now, Dean wouldn’t have held himself responsible for his own actions. Besides, there was something reassuring about the way she knew what she was talking about.

“Come along, Samuel,” she called. “Let’s leave these two lovebirds alone. I spied a wee motel a few miles back and you’ll need your rest if we’re going to cause some lesser angels to chase us.”

Sam and Dean watched her leave with mirrored expressions of disbelief. “Uh...yeah,” Sam said, eventually, “and please, you guys, I know you’re going to be...busy,” he swallowed, awkwardly, “but will you please answer your phones? Even if it’s just a text.

“My apologies, Sam,” Cas offered.

Dean waved him away, “Yeah, yeah, look I’ll text you, okay? Now...get out of here,” he said, trying not to throw his brother too quickly, but wanting him as far away from Cas as humanly possible.

“Samuel?” Rowena trilled, again and Sam rolled his shoulders.

“Alright, we’re going to lead them away from you...I guess, uh...” he looked between Cas and his brother, wondering what it was he was supposed to say. “Good luck, I guess?” Decidedly, it was not that and Dean practically steered him out of the door, managing to maintain enough politeness to watch him and Rowena pull away.

“So that...happened,” Dean said, a little breathlessly, closing the door behind him.

Cas was looking at him, thoughtfully, “You should make a point to text them, apparently I’m going to be incoherent in a matter of hours.”

“How are you feeling? You seem uh...” Dean hesitated, “lucid?”

With a small shrug, Cas sighed. “While you were talking to Sam, Rowena made me one of the teas to calm me. After your display of dominance, I was ready to rip Sam’s head off for distracting you.”

The words that came from his lips were at odds with the matter-of-fact tone with which he said them. Dean struggled to keep his breathing level.

“Oh,” he heard himself say faintly, as though it were no big deal that his true mate had had to resort to borderline witchcraft to compose himself in the face of his alpha.

“I expect you’ll want to discuss claiming me,” Cas said, so casually it should have been criminal. Dean swallowed, almost choking on the lump in his throat, but Cas didn’t give him a chance to say anything, “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to hold off until after this heat is over and we can talk about it properly.”

Dean’s throat went dry - drier than he could ever remember it being and he nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He knew this discussion was coming of course, how could it not have been? Cas might be his true mate, but he was still an angel of the freaking lord. He was still the most perfect being in all of creation and Dean had seen enough of it to consider that a reasonable statement of fact. There was no way he would want to be stuck with Dean Winchester, not beyond the physical demands of heat. Was this rejection? He couldn’t blame him, Cas had confessed his feelings but that was surely before Dean had messed it all up-

“Stop it,” Cas said, sharply, and Dean realised he’d been so caught up in self-recrimination that he hadn’t actually noticed Cas get up and cross the room to take his hands in his own. “Dean,” he said firmly, but with no hint of reproach, “I meant what I said yesterday, you are everything to me and to know that you are my true mate is such a joy, I worry this is a deluded fever dream. I wonder if I’m not going to wake up in a moment to find you sponging my forehead and telling me none of this was real. But I _am_ in heat, and when you claim me I want to be wholly coherent so I can enjoy every moment of it.”

And then he kissed him, putting into it every ounce of tenderness that he had spoken with. Cas kissed him until all the doubt, all the fear, the second-guessing had faded into a whisper of a thing, and even then he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop until Dean’s lips were tingling and the idea that Cas might not want him was as distant as it was ludicrous.

“I love you,” Dean whispered. He hadn’t meant to say it, it just sort of seemed the obvious time after Cas had said as much with his lips. He’d expected Cas to flinch or shy away, but jeez, he really needed to work on his self-confidence because Cas looked at him with a smile that looked like it could absolve sins.

Cas’ touch was warm against Dean’s cheek, bordering on too warm, it wouldn’t be long before the next wave of his heat hit. “I’d say I love you too, but I hardly feel that does my feelings justice,” Cas said, quietly, and Dean could not remember a time when his heart felt so full. “Now, if you don’t mind, Alpha. I’d very much like you to knot me while I’m in my right mind.”

Dean nuzzled his face into Cas’ neck, inhaling deeply. “Whatever you say, omega.”


	11. Chapter 11

Dean would never have claimed to have known everything about Castiel; in fact, recent revelations regarding secondary genders notwithstanding, he probably knew very little. Still, he knew enough to be amazed at what he learned from the four days of Cas’ heat, committing every small detail, however slight or insignificant, to memory so he could revel in it later.

Omega Castiel was not like human Castiel, not in the way Dean had initially assumed he would be. He needed to eat, sleep, urinate (much to his dismay) but from what Dean could gather this was all to sustain his vessel while his true form was preoccupied with the changes of the heat. Sam was particularly interested, nerd that he was and he texted a dozen or more questions whenever they occurred to him but Dean had other things to occupy himself with.

Like the way Cas looked the moment before Dean knotted him, the way he screwed his eyes shut which Dean discovered was because he couldn’t control his grace and didn’t want to freak Dean out with the way they glowed; a reminder that he wasn’t human. Dean didn’t agree. He loved it. There was nothing normal about him and Cas, plus he’d be lying if he didn’t think it was pretty hot.

Then there were the sounds he made, sounds Dean couldn’t have imagined in the wettest of dreams. His favourite were the whimpers Cas made as he came when Dean allowed his teeth to graze over his scent gland, seeking out the point that would eventually mark him as claimed forever. There were soft, breathy mewls that inevitably gave way to purring as Cas came down from the high, at which point he would always pull Dean closer, determined there should not be even a breath of space between them.

He had known Cas for a long time, but he had never thought he would get to see this side of him. His heat was rough as they had both known it would be really, but there was something adorable about how grouchy he became between the waves. The way he would grumble under his breath about having to eat even though he thought Dean’s pancakes were the most delicious thing to have ever passed his lips. Besides Dean himself, he’d added, which had made Dean almost pass out on the spot.

Cas couldn’t bear to be parted from Dean, even after they’d scent bonded and he was in no danger of pining. Whatever Dean was doing, introducing Cas to a movie, cooking dinner, folding laundry (he did a lot of laundry) Cas was there, usually plastered against him. Dean didn’t mind; he enjoyed it and decided there was no point in keeping it secret.

The quiet moments were his favourite. The loud moments were pretty fantastic but the quiet ones - the times when they were tied and Cas was calm and lying in Dean’s arms, allowing him to press feather-light kisses over his face, his neck, his shoulders, anywhere Dean could reach - they were bliss.

“Is it like this in heaven?” Dean asked quietly into the night during one such moment. Cas had ridden him, hard, wanting to see Dean’s eyes when they inevitably came together and was now pressed against his chest, his arms and legs curled around him, his face resting in the crook of Dean’s neck.

Cas turned his face, making use of Dean’s shoulder as a pillow, “Hm?”

“Mating I mean? For angels? Is it like this?”

Cas gave something between a snort and a huff, “I doubt anything could come close to this, Alpha.” Dean’s knot, currently still firmly nestled within Cas twitched, as it did every time Cas referred to him as his alpha and they both gave a satisfied sigh around it. “But no, it’s not like this. Or it wasn’t at any rate. It was...” he paused for a moment, trying to form his words, “I’d say it was a melding of souls but of course angels don’t have them. There isn’t a...physical element, or at least not one as simple in its pleasure as this.” He glanced up to find Dean looking up at him, puzzled. Not that Cas could be blamed for his confusion; it was probably difficult to say the least to explain the ancient mating habits of multi-dimensional celestial beings. “The last mating among angels birthed an entire star system from the energy released during their claiming,” Cas said eventually, bluntly.

“I’m not sure I could compete with that,” Dean smirked but Cas nipped at his jaw, a little too harshly to be affectionate, not harsh enough to be a reprimand.

“Don’t be too sure of that, Dean.”

Dean couldn’t help but smile up at him, kissing him softly by way of an apology and a thank you. He was aware that he was asking questions that would have sounded more natural coming from Sam, who would eventually no doubt write Angelic Mating 101 for the bunker’s library, but he was a little curious himself. “Did they court each other or was it a spontaneous thing?”

Cas shrugged, “I’m not sure. Remember it hasn’t been a concern for millennia. But, there were some stories of the alpha angels courting omegas during the mating season. Kerubiel was said to have bathed a galaxy in righteous thunder and holy fire so that when it exploded, the shockwave threw shooting stars across the seven heavens. Then there was Lailah, who draped the suns in darkness and brought night to creation, just so he would be the first thing to be seen when he allowed day to break. I’m sure it was all quite impressive.”

He sounded as though he didn’t quite care if it was impressive or not. As though he thought they were trying too hard. He had the same tone of indifference that Dean might have had when someone was trying to show him their car. Sure, it might be nice, but Dean had better. The thought made Dean’s brain stutter. Surely...surely there was no way Cas thought this was greater than what the angels in heaven could have offered him?

“I do,” Cas said drawing his head up so he could look Dean in the eye, his gaze intense and undeniably passionate. Dean opened his mouth to ask what he was talking about, but Cas spoke over him. “I may not be able to read your mind, but I can read  _ you _ , Dean. It’s true, you haven’t courted me in the way an angel would have, though given the number of alphas in heaven I’m sure they wouldn’t have bothered with such a thing. But, were you to make a display, I think you would find it more impressive than you let yourself believe.”

“Sure,” Dean snorted, “I might be able to rig up a fancy light show, there're some old Christmas lights in the bunker...”

Cas seemed unimpressed -strike that, Cas  _ was _ unimpressed - and as he narrowed his eyes, Dean suddenly found himself regretting that he couldn’t move away. When Cas spoke again his voice was low, but for the first time in days, it wasn’t from arousal.

“Dean, please don’t say such things. You have always been in my corner, even when I didn’t deserve it. Even when others tried to tell you I was not to be trusted, you defended me. You accepted me into your family despite my many, many failings. You refused to leave me in purgatory and went to great lengths to find me again. You have never left me to fight my battles alone often at great risk to yourself and...” he broke off, suddenly a little sheepish.

“And?” Dean prompted.

Cas smiled that smile again, the one that could keep Dean warm on the coldest of days. “You made me a mixtape and, romantic implications aside, nobody had ever given me a gift before. You have done plenty to court me, Dean, please don’t ever think otherwise.” The intensity in Cas’ gaze was too much for Dean to contend with, but when he tried to look away, Cas hooked a finger under his chin and forced him to look back. Slowly, Cas leaned in and pressed his lips to Dean’s, a firm but brief brush of a thing, but if Cas wanted to punctuate his words in such a way, who was Dean to complain?

Finally, Dean slipped out with a small sigh of relief, even if Cas moaned the lack of contact. It wouldn’t be long until the next wave hit and then he’d be satisfied again. Not that Cas moved far, even when he could. He slipped down to Dean’s side and rested his head on his chest, throwing one leg over Dean’s just so they were in contact in as many places as possible.

“How is courting achieved among humans?” Cas asked.

“You’ve been watching us for how long and you’ve never noticed?”

“As I said, the mating habits of humans have held no interest for me until now.”

Dean smirked and pressed a kiss to Cas’ forehead, revelling in how such a small gesture could make him smile so much.

“Well...for a start, down here the omegas court the alphas for the most part.” He paused to allow Cas to react but he didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow. Dean was reminded, again, that it wasn’t a  _ thing _ in heaven anymore, it was easy to forget when there was an angelic omega in his arms. “Some leave gifts, practical stuff that their alpha needs, others feed them if that’s what their alpha likes...” He trailed off suggestively and Cas snorted.

“If we had to rely on my culinary skills then we would never have mated.”

“True mates get some leeway,” Dean assured him, fondly. “Especially when they’re you.”

“What happens if the alpha accepts? In heaven, if the omega is impressed they...I suppose in human terms they would present for the alpha.”

Dean allowed his hand to trail across Castiel’s back -he loved the planes of Castiel’s back. There wasn’t much of Castiel he didn’t love. “When they’re ready to mate, the omega runs and the alpha chases them; if the alpha catches them, then they’ve proved themselves worthy and they usually mate after that.”

Cas hummed thoughtfully and might have been on the verge of saying something when the sudden tone of Dean’s phone blared out, distracting them.

“That’ll be Sam,” Cas murmured as Dean reached for it. Cas kissed his neck as he exposed it. “He chose his moment well; I’m going to want your knot again soon, alpha,” he purred, and Dean couldn’t help but whine as he swiped to answer.

“Gross, Dean,” Sam muttered, “Real gross.”

“Shut up, we’re not- we weren’t- anyway, what do you want?” It was hard to focus on his brother’s voice when Cas was nibbling his way across Dean’s jaw.

“Good to hear from you too. Anyway, we thought we’d let you know that Rowena came up with a spell to make the angels think Cas was with us.”

Dean sat up a little straighter and nudged Cas to stop nuzzling him for a moment. “And?”

Sam sighed the way he did after a hunt when he was bone tired. “And they came for him. Thrones like Cas said and they weren’t very pleased to have been tricked. Rowena got knocked about pretty bad but we’re okay. We’re in...a hotel now, cleaning up.”

“You mean a motel?”

Sam snorted, “I don’t think Rowena knows what a motel is, no, we’re in the  _ Highcliffe suite _ ,” he said, grandly, and Dean could hear him laughing through it.

“But...you’re alright?”

“Yeah, Dean,” Sam sounded tired but truthful. “We’re alright.”

“And Rowena?” Dean asked, after a moment.

He could hear Sam’s smile in his tone. “She’ll be alright, once she’s gotten over the indignity of being wrestled by the lowest form of angel.”

“Thanks, Sam.”

“Any time, now...go back to...” Sam broke off awkwardly, “yeah...just...be careful- Not...not with that, just...I’m gonna go now-”

Dean laughed as he dropped the phone.


	12. Chapter 12

On the fourth day, Dean woke up to find for the first time since Cas’ heat had started that Cas was not beside him. They’d both known it was coming to an end - the waves had been less intense and further apart, his fever had broken and he was able to sit still for more than five minutes without Dean having to wipe his brow or put another blanket around him. If he was honest, negotiating the temperature changes had been the hardest part of the whole thing. Cas simply didn’t have experience of going from shivering to burning up in the same breath to know how to react. The result was Dean helping him take layers off one minute only to wrap him in blankets the next. Cas had apologised repeatedly, extensively for inconveniencing him but secretly Dean thought he was never more adorable than in those moments where he shifted uncomfortably, looking to Dean to decide what he needed.

Not that he’d tell Cas that. Well, maybe he would. One day.

Rolling deeper into the nest, Dean inhaled deeply, taking in the wonder of their combined scents. Cocoa and campfires on a winter’s day. He thought he would have panicked to find Cas gone. His heat was over and Dean had woken up alone, surely that told him everything he needed to know about where they stood. But that would imply Dean had been little more than a knot to help Cas through his heat and whether he had been at the height of delirium or a picture of sobriety, Cas had assured Dean that  _ this _ was forever.

He found Cas sitting at the kitchen counter totally engrossed in a conversation with someone on the phone. Dean paused in the doorway, leaning against the frame, appreciating the sight before him. Cas, his true mate, who had spent the last few days in a delirious haze and was now hunched over a notepad, jotting down whatever the other person on the line was saying. His voice, when he spoke, sounded more even than it had in days.

“ _...That all sounds simple enough, how long do you think it will last...” _

“ _...I considered adding blackberry leaf, that’s common enough to be in Bobby’s stores, maybe in place of the nightshadow..?” _

“ _...Not essential, no, but most angels have at least a grounding in spellcraft and since the apocalypse, I’ve found it useful to know the basics, even if I don’t have cause to use them much...” _

Dean snorted despite himself. He was talking to Rowena then, who had proven herself ridiculously helpful throughout this whole thing. Maybe Dean was too hard on her. Cas heard the sound and looked up quickly, his expression softening when he saw it was Dean even though it couldn’t have been anyone else.

“I’m aware of that, thank you,” he said quietly into the phone, still smiling at Dean. “I’m sure it won’t take a great deal of time if the last few days are anything to go by. I’ll let you know how we get on… Yes, I wasn’t going to say it but I think you’re right,” Cas laughed suddenly and Dean couldn’t help but grin. Cas didn’t laugh often and rarely with such feeling. “Thank you, Rowena, goodbye."

Without taking his eyes off Dean, he slipped the phone down onto the counter and stepped over to him. Sauntered would have been a better word. With sweatpants riding low on his hips and a shirt that had shrunk in the wash and as such didn’t quite cover his midriff, he knew exactly what he was doing to Dean, but Dean wasn’t complaining. He didn’t think he’d survive it, but he wasn’t complaining.

He crowded Dean into the door frame, allowing Dean’s hands to fall against his hips, holding him there as Cas leaned in and pressed their lips together. Given that they’d been all but devouring each other over the last few days, it was a pleasant change of pace. A slow exploration with Cas controlling the pace, refusing to let Dean take too much, ignoring the persistent way Dean tried to taste him. When Dean groaned, Cas drew back at last, his eyes a little hazier than Dean would have expected, his smile bright.

“Feeling better?” Dean asked his voice breathier than he wanted, after trying and failing to kiss Cas again.

“Much, and I’m especially looking forward to doing all of this with a clear head.”

In hindsight, Dean should have known better. But whether it was Cas’ scent muddying his senses or the fact that he’d just been kissed so thoroughly against a doorframe, in a moment of idiocy, Dean asked, “Doing what?”

Cas smirked wickedly just before he rolled his hips against Dean’s, slowly dragging the movement out. Dean’s groan was lost as he dropped his head back against the frame with an audible ‘thunk’. Cas didn’t give him time to recover pressing their bodies flush against each other so he could nibble at Dean’s exposed neck.

Dean’s eyes rolled back somewhere into the back of his head as Cas practically supported him against the frame with his chest and his hips.  _ Oh, _ his hips. Dimly, the thought occurred to him that Dean most definitely was more than a convenient knot to the omega currently taking him apart.

All too quickly, Cas inched away, diving back in for one last kiss before he did. Dean reached for him, but Cas ducked outside of his grip and for a brief, thrilling moment, Dean thought he was going to run. He was almost disappointed when Cas stayed before him.

“Where is this house’s supply of magical ingredients?”

Dean blinked several times in quick succession, his brain and the straining in his pants struggling to catch up with the change in subject. They could be making out right now.

“The what?”

“Ingredients for spells. I didn’t see where you found them when we arrived.”

“Oh...uh...” Dean cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably to relieve some of the pressure at his groin, Cas was smiling up at him with that knowing smile of his, it was infuriating. “In the basement.”

Cas pressed a chaste peck to Dean’s cheek, “I’ve had an idea. It shouldn’t take long, wait here.”

He disappeared through the door that led to the basement, leaving Dean still leaning into the doorframe, his chest heaving. Never mind the angels hunting his mate, Cas was going to kill him. It hadn’t occurred to Dean that Cas might know what he was doing. When the hell had he figured it out? He’d been terrified that time at the strip club and he’d only had his angel blade for protection when he’d slept with April. The dorky, nervous guy who’d needed several pints of liquor to steel himself before entering a ‘den of iniquity’ was gone and in his place was some kind of omega God who managed to push all of Dean’s buttons and take him apart with five steps and some light petting.

Dragging himself over to the counter, Dean dropped onto a stool, burying his head in his hands as though he could clear the thoughts that were running away with him. Cas was evidently a quick learner and the learning curve was always going to be a steep one. If he didn’t get himself under control, Dean would be popping a knot just from the vague ideas of what Cas was going to do to him.

“Dean?”

Cas had returned, his arms full of jars, pots and boxes from downstairs, but he’d frozen in the doorway, looking as though he were about to drop the lot of them with Dean looking as distressed as he did.

“I’m alright, Cas, just…just trying to calm down,” he added, with more bluster than he’d intended. Still, Cas looked mighty pleased with himself, joining Dean at the counter, lining up what he’d brought up.

“Could you pass me a bowl?” Cas asked without looking up, so Dean reached for something that they probably wouldn’t accidentally eat off of if Cas was going to use it for a spell. He grabbed some cereal while he was at it, his stomach already protesting the prospect of sex before food.

“I’ve been thinking,” Cas said, measuring out various powders by hand and sight alone. “Once we’re mated, I don’t think I’d be able to repress my designation any longer. I’d be your omega all the time, for always.”

Something warm exploded in Dean’s gut, sending sparks into every part of him.  _ ‘Your omega’. _

A handful of grey sand, a sprinkle of grave dirt went into the black salt already in the bowl. “I thought I should make you aware of that. Things won’t be the same as they were...obviously, they would never be given that we’ve actually given voice to the feelings I suspect we’ve harboured for a long time, but now you’d be living with an omega as well as a lover.”

There was a spoonful of cereal on its way to Dean’s mouth, paused in mid-air, his hand frozen as he listened to Cas. Considering they’d not ‘given voice to their feelings’ for very long, Cas sure as hell was comfortable talking about them.

Suddenly, Cas hesitated, his hand hovering above the bowl waiting to release whatever was held in it. He glimpsed Dean’s expression and his entire demeanour shifted; he became nervous, hesitant. “That is...if you still want to mate me?”

The spoon clattered against the counter as Dean dropped it, his hand automatically reaching to cup Cas’ face.

“Cas?” he breathed, “Of course I want to mate you...I mean...if...if you still wanted me?”

Cocking his head, Cas regarded Dean curiously, “Why would I not want you?” He paused to mix whatever was in his hand into the bowl. “Dean, you do believe me when I say I love you?”

Dean couldn’t help but smile, “Yeah, Cas, I do. But...” he sighed, “You’ve said yourself that the whole alpha omega thing doesn’t matter in heaven...Do you really want to change all that...for me?”

He sounded smaller than he’d meant to, and Cas was looking at him as though Dean had spoken in tongues. “Maybe I haven’t been clear enough?” Cas offered reaching forward to take Dean’s hands in his. “I love you and I want to be your mate. There is nothing more important to me in heaven or on earth.”

“You’re su-”

“Dean Winchester, if you ask me one more time if I’m sure or if I mean it or any variation of the sentiment, I will claim you right here, right now, in this kitchen.”

Dean tried to swallow around the lump in his throat but found he couldn’t.

“Okay,” he managed to whisper, eventually. He wasn’t sure whether it was the easy way Cas could just talk about these things, the fact that Cas wanted him, actually  _ wanted _ Dean to be his mate or the prospect of being claimed on the counter that had Dean’s mouth run dry. Whatever it was, he didn’t mind.

They stood like that for a moment, Cas’ hands holding Dean’s, his eyes glowing almost as brightly as his grace. “I should finish this,” he said, quietly, letting Dean go with obvious reluctance. Even so, there were a good few minutes of staring before Cas actually went back to mixing the spell, whatever it was.

He frowned, running his fingers through the contents of the bowl which looked to be a mixture of black grains. “I need a binding agent,” he muttered, under his breath. Reflexively Dean drew his pocket knife and gestured with his hand. “That would do,” Cas sighed as Dean cut into his hand, letting his blood pool in the bowl. He hadn’t gotten as far as drawing it away when Cas reached out, his hand glowing with a familiar warmth as he healed the wound.

Cas swirled the blood around the bowl before he reached in and mixed the contents into an impossibly thick, black paste.

“What’s this going to do?” Dean asked as Cas lifted his fingers out, rubbing them together to examine the compound that clung to his fingertips.

“It’ll hide us from anyone who might try to track us but only for a limited time. It’s a risk, but there’s hardly enough room in here for you to chase me.”

The world seemed to come screeching to a halt around Dean - the only thing he was aware of was the pounding of his heart in his ears.

“What?” he rasped, convinced he’d misheard.

“I am going to run and you are going to chase me.”

Dean was aware his mouth was moving but no words were coming out. Cas didn’t seem to mind, looking at Dean with a soft smile.

“Oh,” Dean eventually managed to gasp, “Oh…okay.”

“This is a risk,” Cas said casually. “The spell won’t hold for more than an hour and I’m sure heaven will be upon us if they find us. But...I imagine they’d leave us alone once I’m mated.”

“You imagine?” Dean asked, his inner alpha immediately ready to fight at the mere prospect that someone was going to take his mate from him.

Cas gave a small shrug, “Angels used to mate once for their lifetime. Once I’m yours I’ll be of no use to them. You’d be the only alpha I could possibly have children by and-”

He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence, Dean all but leapt at him, claiming his lips fiercely. But Cas wouldn’t yield, refusing to let Dean push through the seam of his lips, keeping the kiss deliberately chaste, gently pushing Dean back with a hand on his chest. “ _ Ssh, ssh, alpha, _ ” he soothed, though Cas had to know that just calling him alpha was enough to rile Dean up.

He coated one fingertip in the paste and brushed a line of it across Dean’s forehead, repeating the same for his own. It looked ridiculous but it also stirred something...primal inside Dean. Knowing that he was about to chase this beautiful omega, his true mate and if he were totally honest, the love of his life. Cas muttered something under his breath in a language Dean could probably have recognised if his mind wasn’t elsewhere.

The smear on Cas’ forehead flashed for all of a second and Dean felt a warmth where, presumably, his own mark had done the same. Cas seemed satisfied anyway. He wiped a hand carelessly on his pants, leaning in to scent Dean at the neck. Dean willingly bared his throat.

He groaned when Cas pressed his teeth against it, not enough to hurt, barely enough to press, but enough that Dean knew what he was doing. There was a brief second where Cas nuzzled his own scent gland against Dean’s and Dean’s alpha roared, or was it Dean himself? Either way, the sound escaped him. He reached for Cas but he’d already ducked out of reach, vaulting the sofa in a movement that could have brought Dean to his knees from that alone.

Then there was nothing but the front door slamming open on its hinges and Cas disappearing through it, red flecks seeping into Dean’s vision and their enticing scent of cocoa and caramel in the snow calling to him.


	13. Chapter 13

Cas was fast.

He was fast in the sense that he frequently had to evade monsters on hunts and the body that had once belonged to Jimmy Novak had not been neglected athletically.

Dean was faster.

Dean had been outrunning the things that went bump in the night for far longer than the angel had had cause to. Even if his alpha senses hadn’t kicked into a state somewhere beyond overdrive, he would have been faster. As it was, with Cas’ scent calling to him, urging him onwards, begging him to catch up, well...Cas never stood a chance.

Not that he had particularly wanted to.

The cabin was still in sight when Dean caught up to him. Cas had attempted to evade him at the last moment, veering sharply to the side just as Dean reached for him. The whisper of fabric as Dean closed his fingers around where Cas’ shirt had been just a moment before sent a thrill through him which only served to fuel the fire in Dean’s blood.

There was something else, something gaining awareness on the very edge of Dean’s consciousness but whatever it was was lost as Dean preempted Cas’ attempt to dodge again, throwing his arms around him, pulling him to a stop, flush against his chest. Cas stopped, immediately, flinging his head back so Dean could inhale deeply at his neck.

“Omega,” Dean rumbled momentarily at peace with the world.

Momentarily.

“Alpha,” Cas sighed reaching up behind to tangle his fingers in Dean’s hair but that brief whisper was all it took to bring Dean to his knees and Cas with him.

As soon as Dean hit the ground, he flipped Cas beneath him, pinning his arms down under his forearm, claiming his lips in a kiss that was more teeth than anything else. Cas tried to reciprocate, but no matter how hard he tried to push himself up, Dean held him down, what angelic strength remained in him clearly had nothing on an omega submitting for his alpha. There was nothing blue in Cas’ eyes now and Dean’s blood was  _ singing _ with it.

He pushed against Cas, practically devouring him at the lips, needing to get closer, as though it were at all possible to do so. The fact that they existed as separate entities had never been an issue before that moment. “Cas,” Dean growled with a glimmer of frustration. His omega, his true mate was beneath him, the last thing he should have been was frustrated and yet… there were too many clothes between them and Dean needed to be inside Cas like yesterday. Again, the part of him that had managed to maintain its composure called to him, trying to tell him something, but Dean didn’t want to listen, couldn’t think about what the desperation meant.

Cas rolled his hips under Dean, leaning up as much as he could to suck, to lick and bite at Dean’s neck. “Mate me, alpha,” he growled, his hips jerking now, begging to be taken.

What good alpha would deny their omega such a request?

Cas’ shirt was the first to go, Dean letting him up enough to pull it from him and toss it aside before slamming him back down against the ground even as Cas tore at his flannel. The thin grass beneath them did nothing to cushion the blow, but Cas was too far gone to care about such things. Now that Dean had released his arms, he fumbled with the buttons of Dean’s pants, trying to undo them while nipping at Dean’s scent gland, seeking the place where he would actually bite. 

Somehow Cas managed to actually undo the button without resorting to just ripping at the fabric and Dean hissed as his cock sprung free of its restraint, bobbing over Castiel who looked at it as though it were a holy relic worthy of worship. For that look alone Dean felt his knot twitch.

“Fuck, Cas...”

“That’s the idea,” Cas muttered, his voice wrecked but not nearly wrecked enough in Dean’s opinion. His hands desperately worked at getting his pants down his hips, trying to shimmy them off even with Dean pressed against him. Somehow he managed it,and he pressed the entire length of his body against Dean, arching against him. Skin against skin was just what Dean wanted, but it wasn’t enough.

It was a good thing Dean had already made love to Cas in several different ways because there was no way he could hold himself back this time, and he was being far rougher than he would be under normal circumstances. He reached between them, trying not to lose his head as his hand trailed lower, swiping through the slick dripping across Cas’ thighs. He pressed his first finger into Cas, another groan escaping him as Cas drew him in, bucking his hips back, already begging for a second.

“What are you waiting for?” Cas growled. “Give me your knot, alpha!”

Dean knew he needed more prep, though from the way Cas fucked himself on Dean’s fingers, he clearly didn’t seem to think so. Dean should have been the level-headed one, even under these circumstances, but he was already lining up to give his omega exactly what he wanted. What they both wanted.

_ Oh _ .

_ Rut. _

_ This is a rut. _

The realisation hit Dean harder than a freight train as he pushed his throbbing cock into Cas. He was tight, so tight and it was taking every ounce of self-control not to let Cas just pull him in closer. “You won’t hurt me, Dean,” he insisted and hell, he was probably right -between the whole angel and true mate thing - but still Dean managed to hold off, forcing himself to go slow, at least until, finally, their hips met each other.

For a moment that seemed to last forever, red eyes met yellow, the two of them gasping against each other even though neither of them had moved.

“I love you,” Dean said, suddenly, the words tumbling out before he could even think to stop them.

As though they were caught in a moment out of time, as though their blood had burned so furiously it had burned itself out at this moment of joining, Cas reached up and touched Dean’s face, “I love you too,” he whispered, “It’s always been you.” He shifted his weight beneath Dean, but even that small movement was enough to send a frisson of pleasure that seemed to ricochet through all of his senses. They both moaned in tandem. “Now please,” he said, shakily, “Make me yours. I’ve always been yours.”

Dean’s forehead dropped to meet Cas’ and finally, he started moving. He’d started slow or at least that had been his intent but Cas felt so hot around him, so tight and his scent...he hadn’t smelled this good even during his heat. In no time at all, Dean was pounding into him,  _ hard _ .

Cas’ nails scratched patterns across Dean’s back but he could barely feel it. His blood was singing, his alpha was soaring and his rut only fuelled the mantra circling in his head –  _ Mine – Claim – Mate _ . He could feel his knot swelling, catching against Cas’ rim with every thrust. Even if he couldn’t have felt it he would have known it from the way Cas’ breath caught in his chest each time it caught. Cas’ legs hooked around Dean’s waist, pulling him closer, deeper. It shouldn’t have been possible. It couldn’t have been possible, but it didn’t stop him from trying, a steady stream of, ‘Dean, please, alpha-’ falling from Cas’ lips. The way he bucked his hips, his fingers pressing bruises into his alpha’s skin was positively sinful, but as his knot caught and Dean slammed into Cas one last time, pumping his load into his mate, he felt redeemed, absolved.

Cas’ grace bled out from his eyes, even as he screwed his eyes shut to hide it.

“Look at me, Cas,” Dean ordered, his voice hoarser than he’d ever known it, but still Cas didn’t open them. Instead, he clenched around Dean, milking him for all he was worth as he found his own release, spurting ropes of cum across Dean’s chest. Dean moaned, still rocking even though they were firmly tied together, and in one swift movement, with no consideration he dropped his teeth to Cas’ neck, immediately and instinctively finding the point he needed, and bit down.

Cas’ eyes flew open, no longer omega yellow but glowing so brightly they transcended all thoughts of colour. His mouth opened on a silent scream that looked as though he was calling Dean’s name, but no sound emerged, only a strangled groan as somehow, impossibly, he came again. No sooner had Dean drawn back, the taste of Cas’ blood and something else, something electrifying on his lips, did Cas flip them over with a strength and speed that made him seem more otherworldly than his glowing eyes.

For a brief moment Dean was confused, wondering how he was suddenly underneath Cas, wondering why Cas arched his back so, rearing up with his head thrown back as his grace positively exploded in a shockwave of what could only be described as ‘white’ but then Cas slumped over him, his own teeth finding Dean’s neck.

He bit down, and Dean was lost.


	14. Chapter 14

For a long time, they lay together, lying on grass damp with their own sweat and...well...everything else. They shared soft kisses, lapping at the other’s mating bites; a permanent sign of their bond, trying to get their breathing steady and even, long after they had come down from the high of their mating. Even lying there, Dean could feel himself changing, he could feel Castiel in his blood, an awareness of him that he could never have even hoped to comprehend flooding his senses. And his scent, utterly content, sated, loved, all of those wonderful things-

Which was why it was such a shock when the first words Cas whispered, “I hate you.”

It was a testament to how strong their bond already was that Dean only frowned. He knew Cas didn’t hate him. He could feel how much Cas loved him, he knew that Cas adored him, it was an objective fact as true as the sky above them or the cool breeze around them. But even though Cas’ smell was pure delight and Dean’s very soul seemed to preen under the love of his mate, he was frowning.

“You love me,” Dean murmured, kissing his mating mark again, relishing the way Cas’ breath caught at the sensation. He would never tire of that, he would never tire of any of it.

“No,” Cas whined, “No, I hate you. You are an absolute asshole, Dean Winchester, and I can’t believe you’re my true mate.”

Dean pulled back, waiting for the punchline, he’d heard the smirk creep into Cas’ voice and he knew he wasn’t in trouble. Not really.

“You went into rut and because you went into rut, you triggered my heat!” he snapped, thumping his fist against Dean’s chest ineffectually. “I’d just gotten over it, Dean and now we get to do it all again.” He did sound genuinely irritated but still, he couldn’t help but grin even as Dean went back to nose at his neck.

“I thought you smelled good,” Dean breathed. “Oh man, this is going to be amazing.”

“Oh yes. I can’t wait for the stomach cramps again. I so enjoyed drinking those chia seed smoothies because my body needed sustenance and I really loved going out of my mind for your knot.”

As though on command Dean’s knot slipped from Cas and they both sighed, even though Dean immediately missed the tight heat of Cas around him and from the way Cas’ lips twitched, Cas missed him too.

“You say that, but you’re the one who triggered my rut,” Dean pointed out, “besides, I’ll be able to keep up with you, and we’re mated now. A synchronised heat with the alpha that claimed you...it’s nothing like a regular heat Cas, well...at least so I’ve heard,” he added, realising that he had no experience of it one way or another.

Cas was reaching for their clothes, checking them over to see if they’d survived their removal but they seemed alright. He turned back to Dean with a wolfish smile. “I’m sure I’ll find a way to enjoy myself. Now we should get back to the cabin before the next wave hits us,” he paused, the endearment on his tongue and he murmured, trying it out, “alpha.”

He’d said it before of course but they were mated now. Dean was absolutely his alpha. It wasn’t just something to say to rile him up and coax him into knotting him a little faster, Dean  _ was _ his alpha.

Dean was aware that the grin he wore was unbecoming of a big, strong alpha. “Sure thing, omega,” he beamed, melting under the look of pure adoration Cas threw his way, along with his pants. He pulled them on, loosely, knowing that they’d probably be removed as soon as they got back to the cabin. His rut was sated for the moment, but he could feel it thrumming beneath his skin, every sense he had finely tuned to Cas.

It was a shock to say the least when he turned to look back at the cabin and found himself looking at a line of those damned angels, their hoods pulled low over their faces again, but he could feel them staring at him. Staring through him, almost, as though he were made of air and they could blow him away with a look.

Cas was beside him in an instant and he felt stronger for it. They’d tried to take Cas from him before, they had failed. Cas was his mate now, they didn’t stand a chance.

There was a low rumble around them and it took Dean a moment to realise that it was coming from him. He was growling at them, his stance shifting to shield Cas from them, even though Cas was more than capable of handling himself. Cas’ hand was on his shoulder, his scent soothing, though that in itself was confusing. Why was Cas so calm? And why hadn’t they brought their angel blades? Dammit, he’d thought with his dick rather than his head and it had cost him, as it always would. He should have insisted they take their weapons, but then he remembered the way Cas had just taken off and he realised that there was no force in the world that could have given him pause at that moment.

“It’s alright, Dean,” Cas said softly, stepping around his alpha. “They could have jumped us before we noticed them,” he pointed out and Dean realised that their audience, however long they had been there, hadn’t moved, even now.

Cas called something to them, his voice booming and powerful in a way Dean had never heard before and he practically fell back from it. The thrones did too. Whatever it was Cas was saying - Dean never had gotten to grips with Enochian - he was confident in his words, the strange sounds ringing through the open-air commanding attention. Dean had no idea what it was that was being said but when Cas pulled at the collar of his shirt, revealing the space where Dean knew his mating mark to be, he got the idea. Cas spread his arms out and shouted something that sounded like a challenge but if that’s what it was, nobody seemed to want to take him up on it.

Cas stood his ground, staring down the thrones as Dean wavered behind him, trying to calculate how they could possibly fight off so many without any weapons. The thrones would have angel blades though, so they would only have to overpower a couple before they could arm themselves.

Not that it came to that. While Dean was gauging the distance between the cabin and the thrones, wondering if it were possible for him to duck past them and retrieve their weapons, the angels started disappearing, one by one, while Cas continued to stare them down.

The final throne seemed to hesitate, its head cocked to one side in a gesture that weirdly reminded Dean of Cas in the moment.

“Try it!” Cas shouted in English now apparently having already made his point in Enochian.

The angel did not  _ try it _ . Instead, like the others he disappeared in a dim flash of light, and Cas’ shoulders sagged with relief once it had gone. He turned back to Dean who pulled him into his arms, holding him close even though they’d averted the fight.

“My assumption was correct,” Cas said, quietly, letting Dean hold him and their scents soothe each other. “Now that I am mated, I am of no use to them.”

Dean drew back, cupping Cas’ face, looking into his eyes earnestly, “You’re sure? They’re not going to come back for you? What if they took me out of the picture, would they-”

“Hush, alpha,” Cas soothed, leaning in to press his lips to Dean’s in what would normally be a chaste manoeuvre if it weren’t for the ever-present throb of rut and heat that prickled beneath their skin. “It’s alright. Not even the host of heaven can affect that bond. You claimed me, the only pups I will ever bear will be yours-”

He didn’t get much further than that. Whatever he might have said was lost as Dean let out a pained groan, surging forward to pull his omega into a searing kiss.

“Cas, you can’t say shit like that, especially not now, like this!”

But Cas remained utterly unaffected, save for a darkening in his eyes which contrasted remarkably with the way his natural blue started to seep into the lighter omega gold.

“But it’s true,” he murmured, thoroughly aware of what he was doing. “Not even death can part us now, Dean; my body, in whatever form you’ll have me, belongs to you.”

The ferocity with which Dean reclaimed Cas’ lips brought them both to the ground, as a possessive roar seemed to be ripped from him.

It was indeed a good thing he’d decided to leave his pants loose. They didn’t make it as far as the cabin before they were removed again.


	15. Chapter 15

Somewhere a phone was ringing. They couldn’t hear it so much as feel it; a steady ‘ _ bzzt bzzt bzzt _ ’ pulsing somewhere in the sofa. Neither Cas or Dean moved to look for it, trading lazy kisses between each other. They were both exhausted but it was a blissful kind of exhaustion. Three days of a synchronised rut and heat had seen them connect in ways they couldn’t have imagined, not to mention positions Dean would have normally thought far beyond them. Who knew he could be so flexible when the occasion called for it?

Now they were sated. The hormones that had thrown them together had been fading since the night before and were now a distant memory even as the two of them cuddled up close on the couch, making out in a way that reminded Dean of his teenage years when he had just presented. At the time, in the flush of new hormones, his tongue down the throat of an omega whose name he couldn’t even remember anymore, Dean had thought that had been the height of bliss. It seemed bizarre that he could ever have entertained such a thought; how could anything have compared to this, his true mate in his arms and not just that... _ Cas _ . Cas in his arms, his hair ruffled from Dean’s fingers carding through it, his lips pink and full from kissing. He could serve a millennium in Purgatory and the image of Cas like this would be enough to sustain him.

The phone continued to ring and Cas sighed against Dean’s lips. “We should get that.”

Dean made a sound of protest, moving with Cas as he reached around them trying to find the damned thing. His lips moved across his jaw, down his neck and only when Cas said, pointedly, “Hello, Sam,” did he pull away. Not that he went far. Cas shifted as Dean stayed deliberately close, his breath ghosting over Cas’ neck, drawing goose pimples across his skin.

“Hey guys,” Sam sighed with the long-suffering tone of a man who had interrupted his brother mid-coitus too many times to assume he was safe now.

“What’s up?” Dean asked, keeping his voice deliberately light so Sam would know he wasn’t knot deep in his mate.

“So, I think you guys were right, it looks like you’re not on heaven’s radar anymore.”

Cas smiled at Dean. “I thought as much, what makes you think that?”

“Well, we tried the spells we’ve been using to make them think you’re out with us but they’ve stopped showing up. They wouldn’t even respond to an outright summons. We haven’t seen them since you showed them your mark. We think they’ve gotten the message.”

Both Dean and Cas breathed an audible sigh of relief, Dean feeling a weight he hadn’t appreciated he was carrying lift from him. They both smiled at each other; it was soft, full of love, and for a moment Dean quite forgot that Sam was on the phone.

“Guys?” Sam called, “You still there?”

“Sorry, Sam,” Cas said, quietly, “Thank you. Not just for this but for everything you and Rowena have done throughout all of this. I appreciate it very much.”

“Oh...” Sam stuttered, as taken aback by the declaration as Dean was, “Yeah, no problem, Cas.”

“Will you give my thanks to Rowena, too?”

“No need, I’m right here,” Rowena called over the line and they could practically hear Sam blushing. Dean made a mental note to ask him at some point exactly what the two of them had gotten up to in their ‘Highcliffe Suite’. Maybe he wouldn’t have to if Rowena was still there when they got back.

“So uh...” Sam stuttered, “See you when you get back, I guess?”

“Sure thing,” Dean called, reaching to hang up, throwing Cas’ phone somewhere into the sofa again so he could pull Cas close. It had been way too long since they had kissed. “So you were right. Heaven’s gonna leave you alone.”

Cas let his fingers trail over Dean’s cheek looking at him thoughtfully. “Well, I doubt they’re happy about this turn of events, but there isn’t much they can do now that I’m yours.”

There was no denying the thrill that ran through Dean’s entire being at those words.

“I’m yours,” Cas said again, revelling in the way Dean’s eyes darkened.

This time when Dean leaned in, he claimed Cas’ lips fiercely but when Cas pushed him back lightly, he went willingly. He would go wherever Cas wanted him to.

“We should think about going home,” Cas pointed out, “We still need to fix your car.”

Rolling his eyes, Dean pulled Cas down with him, tucking him against his chest so they could stretch out as much as a sofa would allow two grown men to do so. “Yeah, but that would involve getting up.”

Cas hummed contentedly and nestled his head into the crook of Dean’s neck, “I must admit, I’ve entertained the notion of a romantic relationship with you many times over the years but I could never have imagined something like this.”

“You’ve...you’ve thought about us, like this?” Dean asked, convinced he’d misheard.

He felt rather than saw Cas roll his eyes. “Dean, I may not have comprehended the subtleties of our potential relationship and certainly I never imagined for a moment that we might be true mates but I won’t insult us by pretending for a moment longer that I have not been in love with you from the moment I saw your soul in Hell.”

“Oh...Oh...Cas...that’s...” Dean took a breath. “Hey, come up here,” he whispered. Cas pulled himself up, holding himself at an awkward angle so he could look into Dean’s face. Dean reached up, cupping Cas’ cheek gently. “Listen, so...I’m not so good at the feelings and stuff,” Cas scoffed but Dean didn’t let him interrupt, “Yeah, yeah, you never said anything either, but...Look, I know I’m not a catch even though you don’t seem to mind and...well...I just want you to know that I’m going to spend every moment of our time together trying to be worthy of you. I never imagined I’d ever find my true mate and I sure as hell never thought it’d be you. This must be karma from that time I killed Hitler or something ‘coz there’s no way I’m this lucky.”

“This isn’t luck, Dean,” Cas said quietly when he was sure Dean had finished. “This is us,” he said, firmly, stretching his neck to relieve the strain before taking up position against Dean’s chest, holding him close again. “It’s ironic you should think yourself unworthy of me when I feel I could never be worthy of you.”

“Hm. Guess we’re gonna have to work on being worthy of each other.”

Cas smiled up at him. “I guess we are. You could start by showing me how we might make love outside of my heat.”

Dean snorted, his fingers tangling themselves in Cas’ hair. How could it possibly be so soft?

“You know it’s the same stuff we did when you were  _ in _ heat.”

The look Cas gave him was positively angelic, Dean could practically see the halo glimmering around his mate’s head. “You say that, but I simply wouldn’t know.”

“You make a good point, omega.”

Cas rolled on the sofa, so he could straddle Dean’s hips, leaning in to kiss him as soon as he’d gotten himself settled, rolling his hips indecently. Dean took the front of Cas’ shirt in his fist and pulled him close, kissing him slowly, trying to pour every ounce of feeling that he struggled to say into it.

When Cas pulled back his eyes burned bright, though they were softer than the blazing heat-induced passion that Dean had become accustomed to. He leaned in again for another kiss, chaste this time, gentle, and resting his head against Dean’s forehead he sighed, “I love you too, Dean.” 


End file.
